Remembering 9/11

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, this morning, we had a moment of silence, but we recognize today 14 years of memories. All of us remember where we were when terrorists attacked our Nation 14 years ago, murdering 2,977 of our fellow Americans and shocking the conscience of our country and of the world.

None of us will ever forget the tears, the sorrow, and the loss of that day; but neither will we ever forget the extraordinary acts of heroism, the first responders who rushed headlong into burning towers, the passengers who stormed the cockpit, and the Air National Guard pilot who was prepared to ram her fighter into a hijacked airliner to stop the next attack.

These, Mr. Speaker, are the stories that our children and grandchildren must hear, along with those of the brave men and women who donned our Nation's uniform in the years since, when they ask us to explain what happened on September 11, 2001.

Today, Mr. Speaker, as we mourn the victims of the September 11 attacks and pay tribute to the heroes of that day, we should honor them by renewing the sense of unity we felt that morning and in the weeks and months that followed.

America, Mr. Speaker, is strongest when we stand together in defense of our common ideals--individual freedom, tolerance, equality, justice--which the perpetrators of those acts found so objectionable and which were the real objects of their attack.

As we gather, Mr. Speaker, to mark this anniversary, let us remember that our greatest rebuttal to those who attacked us, as well as the most fitting tribute to all those we lost, is to keep defending these principles that bind us together as Americans and that will always be the enduring source of our strength.

God bless those who we lost, and we commit to their memory and to their cause.

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