September 11, 2006 - A Day of Sorrow and Remembrance

Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, 5 years removed from the tragedy of September 11, 2001, our Nation still feels the pain and sorrow from that fateful day. Like no other event in recent history, September 11 brought America together in a time of grief and an outpouring of emotion. Today, we remember the 3,000 innocent lives taken in the blink of an eye by these terrorist attacks. I still remember watching the news that Tuesday morning and seeing footage of the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Like you, I sat and prayed for the men and women that were trapped in the smoking buildings. Everyone offered our thanks to those brave citizens of New York and Virginia who rushed into the burning wreckage, trying to rescue any possible survivors. And I wept when watching the towers collapse into the streets of New York. These are moments frozen in time that no American could ever forget. On the anniversary of these horrible attacks, it is fitting for Americans to pause and reflect on the challenges our Nation now faces to defend our freedoms. A committed group of religious Islamic terrorists--fanatics who twist and pervert the teachings of the Koran to meet their extremist goals--are bent on destroying America and its allies in the global war on terror. We have seen attacks in Britain, Spain and Indonesia that have killed hundreds of innocent civilians. Law enforcement officials have used innovative and modernized counterterrorism policies to help successfully thwart terrorist plots in the Netherlands, Britain, Canada and the United States; plots that may have killed thousands. The lesson learned from these experiences is that we must remain ever vigilant in the global war if we are to defend against this enemy. Like December 7, 1941 before it, September 11 has become a day of remembrance. It is a time to remember the lives lost that day, as well as the sacrifices made by our brave soldiers deployed on the front lines. September 11 is also a reminder that there is work left to do. It is groups like al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas whose goal it is to destroy America and everything that defines our great Nation. They will continue to plot new and innovative terrorist attacks against our homeland and our people. It is up to the Congress and the President to work together to ensure that September 11 is never repeated again. America must never forget the events of September 11, 2001. They shaped a generation of men and women across the country and thrust us squarely into the global war on terror. On the fifth anniversary of that day, the United States should pause to remember the thousands of innocent lives lost and the sacrifices of the military men and women who serve around the globe to protect our rights and freedoms.