Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This year represents the 10th year since our country was attacked by terrorists and it forever changed our Nation. The events that took place on September 11, 2001, will be forever embedded into every American soul. I, being a New Yorker, on that day can recall with vivid memory that I was in the city because it was an Election Day in New York, a beautiful day in New York, and being pulled to the television by some individuals that our Nation was under attack. I could then look out from the venue where I was and literally see the two towers. Then getting on the phone to talk to individuals, many and some of whom were racing to the scene of the tragedy--not racing from it. Our first responders were racing to it because they wanted to help their fellow human beings. These were heroes, indeed, and we use the word ``heroes'' sometimes as a manner of course. But if you want to talk about a heroic act, when and in the time of crisis, individuals willing to put their own lives on the line to help a fellow human being, I tell you, the first responders, the officers, the emergency workers and others indeed are truly American heroes.

When you think about what took place, what must have taken place on that fateful day, for the passengers and the crew of the United Airlines Flight 93, think about what they must have gone through knowing that there had been planes already attacking our Nation, but yet they made a decision to sacrifice their lives and to make sure that the plane would go down so that

no one, no other lives would be destroyed. That is the true meaning of a hero.

Think about the government employees, both local and the United States Government, who responded to the attack on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., who took courageous steps to protect fellow Americans. They were heroes. And that is why on this 10th anniversary, H.R. 3421, where we would have three coins to commemorate those heroes, those sheroes of the day that the United States of America was attacked by terrorists, is a way that we can come together and say we shall never forget, and we shall honor those individuals who left their families because of a vicious act but also in attempting to save many other American lives.

And so, Mr. Speaker, I say that I thank all of the 328 cosponsors who united together to say to those heroes, we shall never forget you, we shall never stop thanking you, we will always, always hold your name up high, and these coins are the commemoratives of those acts so that children yet unborn will know of your heroic acts, and they shall never ever perish from the minds of an American citizen, whether they are here today or whether they will be born tomorrow.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from the great State of New York, Carolyn Maloney.

(Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Being a New Yorker, I still, to this day, as I walk the streets of downtown Manhattan, cannot believe that the Twin Towers are not there. I taught my daughters how to navigate the streets of New York looking up at those towers as some look up to see the North Star. I will never really, in my heart, conceive of the towers not being there, even as we build this great memorial.

But when I think about the families, how they must feel--if I just utilized them as a tool for my daughters and they're gone--but when you think about the families whose loved ones are gone, we have to do everything in our power so they know that we will always be thinking of the ones that are not able to have dinner with them this evening.

These coins--when tourists come to visit the various sites or when individuals want to purchase them for the commemorative event so they can always remember these heroes--are a symbol of the United States House of Representatives and Congress that in these kinds of times we do come together and we will work together in a bipartisan manner to salute Americans and others, because some lost their lives who were not American citizens, that we shall never forget. And we thank them for their courage, we thank them for their heroism, and we thank the families for the sacrifices that they have made as a result of not having those loved ones.

Let me also thank my colleagues and Mr. Shuster for introducing this bill and working collectively together in a spirit of being Americans. I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3421) to award Congressional Gold Medals in honor of the men and women who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit an exchange of letters with the Ways and Means Committee regarding this bill.

House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means,

Longworth House Office Building,

Washington, DC, December 13, 2011.

Hon. Spencer Bachus,

Chairman, Committee on Financial Services, Rayburn House

Office Building, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Bachus: I am writing concerning H.R. 3421,

the ``Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act,'' which is scheduled for

Floor action today.

As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means maintains

jurisdiction over matters that concern raising revenue. H.R.

3421 contains a provision that provides for the sale of

duplicate medals, and thus falls within the jurisdiction of

the Committee on Ways and Means.

However, as part of our ongoing understanding regarding

commemorative coin and medal bills and in order to expedite

this bill for floor consideration, the Committee will forgo

action. This is being done with the understanding that it

does not in any way prejudice the Committee with respect to

the appointment of conferees or its jurisdictional

prerogatives on this or similar legislation in the future.

I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming

this understanding with respect to H.R. 3421, and would ask

that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be

included in the Congressional Record during Floor

consideration.

Sincerely,

Dave Camp,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today also in support of H.R. 3421, the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, introduced November 14 by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster). Remarkably in the short 4 weeks since its introduction, it has obtained almost 330 cosponsors from this House of Representatives.

The bill before us recognizes the heroism of the men and women who died on September 11, 2001, that day just over a decade ago that changed this country and in fact changed this world and changed it forever. At three sites--seemingly unconnected on that clear, bright morning--thousands of brave men and women died in the most agonizing way and before our eyes. Each of them was a hero, and this bill awards a Congressional Gold Medal in their memory.

There will be three designs, one for each of the attack sites in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And the medals struck for those sites will be displayed at the museums there that preserve the memories of that frightful day.

After the award of the medals, bronze copies of the medals will be available for purchase at a nominal price. Each design, which should be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and the Commission on Fine Arts, is to capture the horror of that day and the majesty of those heroic deaths.

This medal will be the second and final Congressional Gold Medal to be approved during this session of the 112th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I urge immediate passage of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time and inform the gentleman from New York that I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I represent Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is the home of a 9/11 memorial for Pennsylvanians, for Americans, for all those killed on September 11, 2001. It is also the home of Ellen Saracini, widow of Captain Victor Saracini, who was the pilot of United Flight 175, which was crashed into the south tower at approximately 9:03 that morning.

He went to work, along with 2,973 other men and women lost on September 11, never imagining that they would not be returning home. For Ellen Saracini and for the other 17 families from Bucks County who lost a loved family member on that day, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) for offering this bill. I was proud to help

him introduce it, and I humbly ask my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise today in support of the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, which I introduced earlier this year in honor of the 10th anniversary of September 11. I represent Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the area where Flight 93 went down, and, more importantly, where the first counterattack of the war on terror occurred.

It has been an honor for me to work closely with the Families of Flight 93 over the years on key initiatives, including funding the Flight 93 National Memorial and awarding the 9/11 heroes a Congressional Gold Medal. The Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act would award one collective Congressional Gold Medal to honor the heroes that perished on 9/11, to be displayed at each memorial site--the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, and the Pentagon Memorial. The tragic deaths at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and in rural Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, have forever changed our Nation.

The officers, emergency workers, and other employees of State and local government agencies, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and of the United States Government and others, who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and perished as a result of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, took heroic and noble action on that day.

The officers, emergency rescue workers and employees of local and United States Government agencies who responded to the attack on the Pentagon and Washington took heroic and noble action to evacuate the premises and prevent further casualties of the Pentagon employees.

And the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, recognizing the imminent danger that the aircraft that they had boarded posed to large numbers of innocent men, women, and children, American institutions, and the symbols of American democracy, took heroic and noble action to ensure that that aircraft could not be used as a weapon.

Given the unprecedented nature of the attacks against the United States of America and the need to properly demonstrate the support of the country for those who lost their lives to terrorism, it is fitting that their sacrifice be recognized with the award of an appropriate medal.

Awarding this medal would give Congress and the American people an opportunity to further pay tribute and honor the heroic men and women that lost their lives that day. There would be no better gift this holiday season to those who lost loved ones than passing this bill and officially recognizing those that lost their lives that fateful day.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bill, the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, and I want to thank the over 350 Members I believe it was that signed on to this bill to make it possible that we're here today, going to pass this and hopefully send it to the President.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3421, the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act.

After 9/11, I have never seen this body so united and determined; and this same determination and united spirit is behind the bill that we are passing today, with well over 300 cosponsors.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of that tragic day where we had innocent Americans murdered on our soil, invaded; the first act of terrorism that we are confronting and combating today in this Congress.

The bill will symbolize in the gold coin the 9/11 site in New York, the site at the Pentagon, the heroic flight over Pennsylvania, and will have the gold coin put on display in the museums in these three locations.

On 9/11, we lost thousands and thousands of Americans, innocent Americans, who did what we did today, went up and went to work and were murdered because they were Americans. It was outrageous. We will never forget. This is another way that we can memorialize the heroic actions, the heroes and heroines that worked hard to try to protect them, and really recognize how outrageous it was that an American citizen was murdered just for being an American.

Since 9/11, thousands and thousands more have lost their health. And I thank this body for acting in the last Congress to provide health care and compensation and monitoring for those who risked their lives to save the lives of others.

No other act has changed this country as much as 9/11. We totally reorganized our priorities, created a Homeland Security Department, totally reorganized our intelligence gathering, and implemented 43 of the 53 recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. It was this Congress at its best.

The 9/11 Commission report, which was a bipartisan product, came forward with concrete recommendations. Their report sold more copies than ``Harry Potter.'' It was an important report, and this Congress took that report and enacted those recommendations into law. With that same bipartisan spirit, we should be attacking the economic challenges that we confront today.

I compliment my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for sponsoring and working on this legislation. It will mean a great deal to the men and women that I have the honor of representing to have a bronze coin that they can purchase to remember, to have their input into the artistic framing of the message for these three tragedies in our country. It is thoughtful, it is purposeful, and it is historic. I thank my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3421, a bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to the heroes of 9/11.

During the attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2,996 Americans lost their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in a field in rural Pennsylvania. Many more might have perished had hundreds of law enforcement officers, emergency workers and State and local government employees, not sprung into action to help evacuate the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and, in the case of the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, averted greater disaster by sacrificing themselves.

The three gold medals this legislation awards, will be permanently displayed at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, the National September 11 Memorial in New York and the Memorial at the Pentagon as a constant and visible reminder of the exceptional acts of heroism exercised on that tragic day.

As a cosponsor of H.R. 3421, I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of the many heroic men and women who put themselves in harm's way on September 11th, 2001 with this Congressional Gold Medal.