9/11 Memorial Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, 17 years ago, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in my district, killing thousands of people. A third plane slammed into the Pentagon, and a fourth plane, likely destined for the very Capitol complex in which we now stand, was brought down by a group of courageous passengers in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

As I do today, I represented Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. I was at the World Trade Center 4 hours after the towers fell. The scene was horrible: fire, smoke, debris, human remains, and twisted metal created an apocalyptic scene. Dust and debris filled the air, but even in that moment of deep despair and overwhelming horror, I saw signs of hope.

Firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians traveled to Lower Manhattan from around the country. Steel workers, construction workers, and hundreds of other men and women rushed to the pile to help. As the last fires were extinguished, 99 days after the attack, and the last pieces of metal were removed from Ground Zero, those feelings of hope, perseverance, and solidarity remained.

In the years since the attacks, I have been grateful and inspired by how Congress has come together to help rebuild New York, and I have worked with my colleagues to support the responders, survivors, and families of the victims.

In 2010, Congress passed, and in 2015 reauthorized, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. More than 88,000 9/11 responders and survivors have enrolled in the program to receive healthcare and support for 9/11-related illnesses. The law has also provided over $4.3 billion in compensation to responders and survivors through the Victim Compensation Fund, a program that Congress will have to reauthorize in the coming years.

In addition to making our responders and survivors whole, Congress invested millions of dollars to help rebuild Lower Manhattan. One World Trade Center now fills the hole left in our skyline when the towers fell, and businesses shattered after the attack are reopened and thriving. In what was once the shadow of the towers, there now stands a comprehensive museum dedicated to sharing stories of September 11th and the bravery of those who risked everything to protect their fellow Americans that day.

In place of the smoking hole I saw day after day in Lower Manhattan, there now sits a somber and inspiring memorial. It is a site of remembrance and hope; a place for every American to come and reflect on what happened that September morning, and to renew our promise, never to forget the events of that day.

It is the national memorial for a national tragedy. Similarly, memorials built at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, provide places to remember and reflect, solemn reminders of the tragedy and bravery we saw on September 11th. That is why I am pleased to cosponsor legislation introduced by my colleague from New Jersey which will create a competitive grant program to provide Federal support for security operations and maintenance for 9/11 memorials.

This legislation will help ensure the memorials continue to provide sacred and inspiring spots, accessible to millions of visitors for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the bipartisan support of the members of the Natural Resources Committee and the House leadership for bringing the bill to the floor today. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and to achieve our shared goal of providing a memorial that allows our Nation to mourn, to reflect, and to renew our promises never to forget September 11th.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Montana for yielding and for his work on the committee. As my colleague from New York has just said, this has been a bipartisan effort, and I appreciate that. It is bipartisan in the Senate, as well.

Seventeen years ago yesterday, our world changed forever. Every one of us

remembers where we were that day. It is getting harder to remember life before 9/11. We have a whole generation that doesn't know what it is like to go to an airport and not take off their shoes, or not sit on board a plane and wonder if somebody is meaning them harm.

I was working in New York City in 2001, right up the block from the Trade Center, and on that terrible, sunny Tuesday when terrorists flew two planes into the New York World Trade Center, we lost nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens. Like others, I lost people who I knew. Some lost those dearest to them: their husbands, their wives, their mothers and fathers, their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and close friends.

We were also moved that day by stories of heroism, and we all watched as New York's finest and first responders from elsewhere in the region ran toward danger, not away from it.

In the months that followed, I had to take the ferry to New York each morning because the tunnel was closed. And I think it seared on my memory for life the look and the smell of going past Lower Manhattan and seeing the rubble still smoldering and smelling the electrical fires still burning.

Mr. Speaker, 10 years later to the day, on 9/11/2011, the memorial at the World Trade Center opened. It was erected to remember those who fell; to recognize the endurance of the survivors; to honor the bravery of those who risked their lives to save others; and above all, to remember the power of our free Nation to overcome evil with good.

It stands as a reminder to every generation: Never forget. Never falter.

Mr. Speaker, most Americans probably don't know that that memorial was erected with donations from privat citizens, and it has continued for 7 years now with donations from private citizens. I commend them for their good work.

But it is now our turn, the United States Congress, to do our part to preserve and protect this hallowed ground, and to answer this national tragedy with national support. I introduced this bill to start a process for providing funding for this memorial and other memorials of what happened on 9/11, and it will provide, ultimately, funding for security, for maintenance, for operations, and still allow those who run the museum there and who have poured their hearts and souls into this, to continue to do that.

I commend the private citizens for doing what they have done, but it is now our solemn duty to not only honor the fallen, but make sure that we protect the living, and that this site is a safe place for people to go and to remember.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the 9/11 Memorial Act. Again, I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for coming together to introduce and, hopefully, pass this bill today.

I want to thank my colleague in the Senate, Cory Booker, for introducing similar legislation so that we can do our part to honor those who fell.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present for the vote today on the enrollment correction to H.R. 4174, the Foundations for Evidence- Based Policymaking Act of 2017 (Roll no. 483), I would have voted ``aye.''

On concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 4174, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2017 (Roll no. 484), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 3277, the Space Frontier Act of 2018 (Roll no. 485), I would have voted ``no.''

On the House Amendment to S. 3661, the 75th Anniversary of World War II Commemoration Act (Roll no. 486), I would have voted ``aye.''

On concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2200, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Roll no. 487), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 1023, the Tropical Forest Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Roll no. 488), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 1158, the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Roll no. 489), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 1580, the Protecting Girls' Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act (Roll no. 490), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 1862 the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017, as amended (Roll no.491), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 3247, the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 (Roll no.492), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 512, the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (Roll no. 493), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 1934, the Alaska Remote Generator Reliability and Protection Act (Roll no. 494), I would have voted ``no.''

On concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 6287, the 9/11 Memorial Act (Roll no. 495), I would have voted ``aye.''

On S. 3456, a bill to redesignate Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge as the Nathaniel P. Reed Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, and for other purposes (Roll no. 496), I would have voted ``aye.''

On H.R. 7388, a bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other purposes, (Roll call no. 497) I would have voted ``no.''

On the Motion to Fix the Convening Time (Roll call. no 498) I would have voted ``no.''

On H. Con. Res. 148, the enrollment correction to S. 3628, a bill to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (Roll call. no 499) I would have voted ``aye.''

Additionally, had I been present for the vote on S. 3628, a bill to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (Roll call. no 500) I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6287) to provide competitive grants for the operation, security, and maintenance of certain memorials to victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6287, offered by Congressman Tom MacArthur of New Jersey, honors and memorializes the victims and heroes of September 11, 2001.

The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to award grants through a competitive process to nonprofit organizations for the operation and maintenance of memorials to commemorate the events and honor the victims of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

It has been 17 years since that dark day in American history. The National September 11th Memorial in New York City, the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial just across the Potomac River in Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, stand as solemn tributes and remembrances to the thousands of victims of those attacks.

H.R. 6287 authorizes a competitive grant program for operation, security, and maintenance of these memorials.

Throughout our Nation's history, Congress has stepped forward to authorize operating funds in public-private partnership with nongovernmental organizations for memorials and museums of national significance. Like congressional authorizations of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Kennedy Center, a Federal authorization for grants in support of 9/11 memorials at the sites of the attacks will help to operate and maintain these sites of national remembrance and reflection.

We should always remember and forever honor those who lost their lives on that fateful day.

Mr. Speaker, again, I thank Representative MacArthur for his work on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. MacArthur).

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Tsongas and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for rising in support of this bill.

Yesterday, on September 11th, in small towns and large cities and country fields, Americans paused to remember September 11th. I think there are two goals to each of these ceremonies, including the ones I participated in.

First, is to remember all those who have suffered so much because of the September 11th attacks; and second, is to rededicate ourselves to the promise that is America.

Those who have suffered so much; those who were killed that day; the families that have been affected by it; and all those who responded and worked on that pile that was so huge. We saw the pictures on the front of the newspaper. I went there the day afterwards. The pile was massive. It looked like little ants, the firefighters and police officers and EMS personnel, that were crawling through the debris--it was so gigantic--and the acrid smell that was there.

And every day we hear about other first responders who are dying of cancer related to 9/11 illnesses. We can never forget those who suffered that day and the people who worked so hard for months after that.

And second, we need to rededicate ourselves to the promise of America that the terrorists tried to take away from us.

This bill is an example of Democrats and Republicans working together to try and commemorate these brave souls. We need to remember that those who have gone off to foreign lands and have died on our behalf, have done so for freedom and democracy.

Freedom and democracy is nothing more than politics and government, and our politics and government have become too small, too petty, and too cynical. These are big issues that are life-and-death issues and we need to raise up the conversation in this country.

This bill is an example of working together to provide money so that people will continue to go to these facilities to remember the suffering that has been visited upon us, and to rededicate ourselves to the promise of America.