Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 593, H.R. 866.

I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

I understand there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading.

In order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceeding en bloc.

I ask unanimous consent S. 3815 be star printed with the changes at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following treaty on today's Executive Calendar: No. 17. I further ask unanimous consent the treaty be considered as having passed through its various

parliamentary stages up to and including the presentation of the resolution of ratification; that any committee conditions, declarations, or reservations be agreed to as applicable; that any statements be printed in the Congressional Record as if read; further, that when the resolution of ratification is voted upon, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be notified of the Senate's action, and that following the disposition of the treaty, the Senate return to legislative session.

I ask for a division vote of the resolution of ratification.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 13. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to a period for morning business for up to 30 minutes with the first 15 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee and the final 30 minutes under the control of the Republican leader or his designee; further, following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 4954, the port security bill, as under the previous order.

Mr. President, under an agreement reached this evening, we will turn to the pending Reid amendment tomorrow following morning business with the time equally divided until 12:15. At 12:15, we will have a vote in relation to this amendment. This will be the first vote of tomorrow's session.

A few moments ago, I filed a cloture motion on the bill. We have a number of amendments to work through. We will complete this bill this week. Senators are reminded that all first-degree amendments must be filed by 1 o'clock tomorrow.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. President, I ask consent at 12 noon tomorrow the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the DeMint amendment No. 4921, as amended; further, that notwithstanding the adoption of the amendment 4927, the second-degree amendment be modified to reflect a perfecting amendment.

Mr. President, I unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, about an hour ago a number of Members of the House and the Senate, principally leadership, participated in a wreath-laying ceremony by the President at the Pentagon. The President has participated over the last 48 hours in similar events in New York, earlier today in Pennsylvania, and later at the Pentagon today.

A number of colleagues have come to the Senate to offer statements in remembrance of that day 5 years ago and that question of: What were you doing? Whom did you talk to? What were your memories? Whom were you with? This is a familiar question and one we have all gone back over the course of the last several days and thought about.

I remember where I was. I remember exactly what I was doing. I remember whom I was with. I was across the street in the Russell Building with my chief of staff, Emily Reynolds, at the time, who is now Secretary of the Senate. We were in a meeting with a colleague of mine, Senator Hutchison, talking over issues, when a member of her staff came in and told us that a plane had struck the Twin Towers.

At that time, it was thought initially to be a corporate plane, but as a pilot it was very clear to me that would not have happened by accident. While our discussion continued for a few moments, someone wheeled in a television, and then, dumbstruck, we watched that second plane strike the tower. Shortly thereafter, of course, we heard there was smoke coming from the Pentagon, where we were a few moments ago. Clearly, we were under attack.

I remember my first phone call home. We all remember our phone calls, reaching out to touch others whom we loved. I called my wife Karyn. Immediately, we talked about what should be done with our three boys who were at school in Washington, DC.

Of course, later that afternoon, we were standing on the steps of the Capitol with so many of our colleagues, spontaneously, together, breaking out in ``God Bless America,'' to let the world know that America will not cower to such terrorism. Indeed, in about 30 minutes, a number of our colleagues from both the House and the Senate will, once again, go to those Senate steps.

Those are the moments that are indelibly etched into my mind in terms of where I was and whom I was with. But it really goes out to the people we were just with over at the Pentagon, as I talked to one man I never met before whom, as we were waiting just prior to the ceremony, I turned to and introduced myself. He told me his story, his story of Amelia, who, on her second day of work, indeed, her birthday, September 11, 5 years ago, at the Pentagon was struck and died. And then there are the images of all the first responders--the law enforcement, the firefighters, the police, and the volunteers--and the family responses. All of those feelings come tumbling in.

Nearly 3,000 Americans lost their lives to those vicious acts of terror that day. The attacks shattered the longstanding illusions I had through my entire life of safety and security, at least in this great country of ours. Indeed, we found ourselves hard pressed on every side but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.

Instead, we pressed on, pushing every hindrance aside with resolve, calling upon our most fundamental beliefs about America, many going back over the ensuing days addressing what makes us uniquely American.

We pressed on, coming together and sending forth thousands of those first responders, thousands of those policemen, paramedics, construction workers, and other rescue workers to Ground Zero and the Pentagon.

I remember a few days after the Pentagon was struck going out and welcoming an entire delegation of first responders from Tennessee, with that American flag displayed so proudly and that Tennessee flag right next to it.

We pressed on, facing down that economic shock and developing new respect for our economy's natural resilience and a new respect for the economy's ability and resiliency to bounce back.

We pressed on, immediately in this body, addressing issues of intelligence, of making sure we not only mobilized our troops but we supported them with the very best equipment that we could.

We pressed on by taking the fight to the enemy because we knew that if we did not, that fight would come to us.

With the passage of 5 years' time, some things begin, inevitably, to blur. That is why in some ways it is so useful to have remembrances like what we have had over the course of today.

We forget a time when we had a great fear of even boarding airplanes. We forget a time when we held our children--and those days, weeks, and months afterwards; it was so, so, so close--but we forget that time of holding our kids just a little bit longer with that hug before they went off to school. And we forget a time when we felt that hatred in the heart of our enemy. The feelings that were once so vivid, so sharp--that shock, that anger, that fury--the fear began to lose the jagged edge with time. In part, that is part of this Nation's healing-- coming together, responding in a healing way to a catastrophe--because we should not live in fear. We cannot be a nation that lives in fear. Salesmen go out traveling on business, families who are out traveling on vacations should not fear boarding that plane to fly. Parents loading their children on a bus, they should not fear sending them off to school.

But there is also a danger in forgetting. There is a danger in having time pass and letting those memories fade because as time fades we also start to forget the enemy who took those 3,000 lives so prematurely. We forget the intentions they harbor and the agenda they champion.

There was a stark reminder for me yesterday, as I joined Senator McConnell and Senator Specter, as we went to Guantanamo Bay, to the detention facility there. And when you walk those grounds--a remarkable place in and of itself and the entity itself in terms of treating those detainees in a safe and humane way, which is very possible--in walking those grounds, it causes you to think back to 5 years ago, to what precipitated that event which caused the loss of 3,000 and destroyed the lives of so many thousands of others.

We cannot become complacent because if we do, we will be struck again. Our enemy remembers. Our enemy plans. And I was reminded again and again yesterday, as I toured those grounds, our enemy continues to plan, continues to plot, continues to conspire--conspires to see us lose in Iraq, plots to drive us out of Afghanistan, plans to attack us here, right here, again in the United States. We know that because over these last 5 years, at least 11 times such plots have been promoted. That is why we cannot afford to grow complacent. We cannot afford to let our resolve waiver. We have to continue to press on. We have to continue to strengthen our security.

That is why on this floor, in the bill that has been talked about this afternoon and the bills we will address over the coming days, we are focusing on a security agenda. It is an agenda that includes replenishing our critical supplies for troops on the ground--we just finished the Department of Defense appropriations bill on the Senate floor last week--eliminating vulnerabilities and closing the gaps in port security, the bill on the floor today; and, indeed, in the near future, creating military commissions to try the enemy combatants, the terrorists who are captured on the field of battle, and bolstering the terrorist surveillance program to make sure our law enforcement and our Government are appropriately equipped to be able to detect terrorism before an event happens.

Here in the Senate we have worked tirelessly to ease the burden on our memories. That is why we are safer now than we were 5 years ago. Consider there has not been a successful terrorist attack against the homeland.

But safety and security are not static points in time. They are not static statistics. They are dynamic, in constant flux. So as we take time today to remember the horror as well as the courageous actions of 5 years ago, let us also remember there is much more we can and we must do to bring the terrorists to justice and to ensure the events of 9/11 are never repeated.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 565, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration, and the Senate now proceed to H. Con. Res 449.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading, en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask for their second reading, and in order to place the bills on the calendar under rule XIV, I object to my own request en bloc.

Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading.

In order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceeding en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 12. I further ask unanimous consent that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to a period for the transaction of morning business for up to 30 minutes, with the first 15 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee and the final 15 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee; further, that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 4954, the port security bill. I further ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to accommodate the weekly policy luncheons.

Mr. President, tomorrow we will continue to work through the port security bill. Members wishing to offer amendments should be consulting with the bill managers and be ready to debate their amendments tomorrow and Wednesday. Members should note that we will be voting throughout the day tomorrow, and the first vote will be at noon on Senator DeMint's national hazard alert system.

In a few moments, Members of Congress will be marking the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 with a ceremony on the Capitol steps. Senators are reminded to meet in the Chamber by 5:45 p.m. to walk over as a body for the 6 o'clock ceremony.