H. Res. 391, Resolution Commenorating the 10the Anniversary of September 11, 2001

Floor Speech

* Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution.

* This Sunday our nation will commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001. It was a day that changed the way we live and view the world.

* It was a difficult time for all of us, but most difficult for the families, friends, relatives and communities who lost loved ones on that day.

* In the Boston Public Garden is a memorial to those in Massachusetts and New England who were lost on that day. At the entrance to the memorial is a simple plaque that reads: ``September 11, 2001: The people of Massachusetts will always remember our families, our husbands, wives, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, grandchildren, companions, friends and neighbors.''

* Among the 207 names enshrined in the Public Garden 9/11 Memorial are six from my district in Massachusetts: Lynn Goodchild from Attleboro; Christopher Zarba, Jr., from Hopkinton; Linda George and Robin Kaplan from Westborough; Dianne Snyder from Westport; and Tara Creamer from Worcester.

* Today my thoughts and sympathies remain with their families, friends and loved ones. Many had children, some who are scarcely more than a decade old, others who are now teenagers or entering college. Each had vibrant lives and futures. We carry their memory in our hearts and our thoughts.

* I would like to insert the names of all the Massachusetts residents who perished on 9/11.

* I think about the future we are called upon to create and build in the next decade, before we reach the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. In the days following the attacks, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair called upon the world to use the sense of unity and human sympathy engendered by the attacks to create a ``community for good.'' While referencing the need to help the African nations reach their full potential, he focused on creating a common purpose to help the world's most vulnerable--the hungry, the poor, women and children; those without education, food, water or dignified work.

* I often reflect on how well we as Americans and the international community have responded to that challenge. I look at the famine in the Horn of Africa, and I can see where we have reached out to Ethiopians and Kenyans and helped them become stronger and more resilient to the shocks brought on by natural disasters and long-term droughts. These investments have kept millions from falling into famine, but there's still more to do.

* Right next door, in Somalia, a nation torn by decades of war and instability, tens of millions are facing famine, hardest hit are the children. We need to do more.

* I look next door in my own cities and towns, and I find families struggling to put food on the table, as we look at a period of extended unemployment and attacks against state and federal safety-net programs. We need to do more--and we need to do better.

* On the first Sunday following the 9/11 attacks, I was at an ecumenical service in Worcester, Massachusetts. I said then that ``as our faith teaches us: Love is stronger than hate.''

* I still believe that.

* I still believe that peace-making--an end to poverty and oppression--is a vital part of any global effort to end terrorism once and for all.

* I still believe that respecting the basic rights and dignity of all people is the best expression of who we are as America.

* And I still believe that this is the future we must recommit ourselves to creating and becoming a reality.

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