Honoring The Victims Of 9/11 With A Commitment

Honoring the Victims of 9/11 with a Commitment to Secure America

In a late night session on September 10, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution in remembrance of the September 11 attacks six years ago. The resolution pays tribute to the community of victims, survivors, and responders who all have born an immeasurable burden, and recognizes steps taken so far this Congress to secure our freedoms and protect our communities.

In introducing this Resolution, Chairman Thompson delivered the following statement: "I rise today in strong support of this bipartisan resolution that we have before us tonight. Six years have passed since Al Qaeda executed the most deadly terrorist attack in our nation's history. Nearly three thousand lives were brutally cut short on that one day. For each person who died, there's a family that lost a parent . . . a child. There is a community that lost a neighbor . . . a friend. And there is a nation that lost a citizen . . . a patriot.

Today, we reflect on the heroism of each and every American that put aside their own health and well-being to save the lives of others. In the World Trade Center alone, 343 firefighters and 23 police officers perished, trying to save others.

Today, six years after the attacks, we are still realizing the heavy personal price that many police, fire and rescue workers paid for racing into the towers, with little concern for their own welfare, to recover people and bodies from the wreckage.

The courage and selflessness of those first responders as well as the passengers and flight crew of United Flight 93 continue to inspire. In the darkness of that day and the days that followed, ordinary Americans from every corner of this nation displayed extraordinary courage.

They refused to succumb to their fear. They boarded airplanes. They went back to work and got on with their lives. They did so, secure in the knowledge that we would do what it takes to make them more secure.

Congress acted swiftly to respond and federalized aviation security, realigned the Federal government to meet the challenges of a post-9/11 world and ordered the formation of the 9/11 Commission to conduct an independent review of the attacks and develop recommendations to make America more secure.

By January 2007, when I became chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, many of the 9/11 recommendations had been implemented. However, some of the most difficult challenges remained unaddressed. I am proud to say that the first order of business for the 110th Congress was consideration of H.R. 1--a bill to fulfill the 9/11 Commission recommendations and address other emerging threats.

With unwavering support from the 9/11 families, this landmark legislation is "the law of the land" today. Everything we do as a nation to make America more secure is a tribute to the lives lost on September 11th. I urge passage of this resolution and look forward to working with my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to make America more secure."

ENDS

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