Ackerman Brings September 11th Resolution to House Floor on Seventh Anniversary of 9/11

Measure is passed overwhelmingly

(Washington, DC) - The House of Representatives today approved a resolution brought to the House Floor by U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I.) that commemorates the seventh anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“This resolution pays homage to the lives lost on the 11th of September in 2001, and recognizes the anniversary as a time of solemn commemoration,” Ackerman said on the floor of the House. “It extends deepest condolences to the friends, families, and loved ones of the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks; it expresses gratitude to the leaders and citizens of other countries who assisted, supported, and stood by the United States in the aftermath of the attacks; and it honors the nation’s first responders, armed forces and others whose valiant efforts did credit to their country, and who continue to help keep us safe.”

The resolution was approved 402-0. The full text of Ackeman’s remarks from the House Floor during consideration of the measure can be found further below.

In addition to the resolution, Ackerman urged the President to reconsider his opposition to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Improvement Act, a measure sponsored by the Congressman that would allow companies to rebuild at Ground Zero. This legislation would implement the “reset mechanism” which would lower deductibles and trigger levels for insured sites already attacked by terrorists so that they could obtain terrorism insurance. The measure was originally part of last year’s Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), legislation championed by Ackerman that renewed a vital terrorism insurance program, but was removed before its final passage due to the President’s veto threat.

“When the President addressed Congress following the 9/11 attacks, he pledged to rebuild and to not allow the terrorists to win” said Ackerman. “Without the ‘reset mechanism’ we would allow the despicable terrorists who attacked us on September 11 to dictate where we can and cannot build.”

Ackerman also urged the President to assist the first responders, workers and residents from Ground Zero who were exposed to toxins in the aftermath of 9/11, a catastrophic problem the Bush Administration has failed to address. 

“Seven years of waiting for a comprehensive plan of action is long enough” said Ackerman. “Congress must act to now to provide the care to the people who rushed to Ground Zero to help others, as well as the thousands who worked on the ‘pile’ in the aftermath to rebuild the site. We owe the heroes of 9/11 the care and compensation they deserve.”

Ackerman urged that legislation, known as the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act immediately be enacted. The measure, of which Ackerman is a cosponsor and strong supporter, would finally establish a permanent federal program to monitor and treat the first responders, workers, and residents who were exposed to the harmful contaminants caused by the attacks of 9/11.

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Text of Ackerman’s statement as delivered on the House Floor:

“Madame Speaker, this resolution pays homage to the lives lost on the 11th of September in 2001, and recognizes this anniversary as a time of solemn commemoration. It extends deepest condolences to the friends, families, and loved ones of the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks; it expresses gratitude to the leaders and citizens of other countries who assisted, supported, and stood by the United States in the aftermath of the attacks; and it honors the nation’s first responders, armed forces and others whose valiant efforts did credit to their country, and who continue to help keep us safe.

Each of us remembers where we were on 9-11 when we heard the tragic news. 

We remember the days of unity that followed when we acted together to protect this country from those determined to harm us and to undermine our way of life.

Last year, we took a major step in furtherance of that goal by enacting -- with bipartisan support -- legislation to implement the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission, in both its domestic and foreign-policy dimensions. By so doing, we addressed major security vulnerabilities and improved our homeland security across the board. I call on the President to continue his work to fully implement that Act.

Al Qaeda remains a serious threat to the United States. In particular, the Al Qaeda leadership that was responsible for ordering the attacks on September 11th has been reconstituted in the tribal areas of Pakistan. From that safe haven, they continue to pose a danger to the world and increasingly threaten American troops in Afghanistan.

And this is more than just a military campaign. In the battle against extremists, ideas matter as much as ammunition, and this nation must employ its soft power -- its moral, economic, financial, diplomatic, and cultural resources -- to the very fullest.

The global realities of the 21st century require us to use the full range of non-military tools as a fundamental pillar of our national security. We in Congress must support full funding for our international-affairs programs. They bolster our national security by allowing us to work with foreign partners to track down terrorists overseas, to secure dangerous weapons wherever they are found, and to help stabilize fragile states.

Madame Speaker, this country is in the midst of a competitive election campaign. The stakes could not be higher. But today we set that aside all of that to remember that what unites us is greater than what divides us.  We all love our country and seek to keep it safe in these perilous times.

Madame Speaker, none of us will forget what happened seven years ago today. We will always remember the victims of 9/11 and the loved ones who survived them. We still have unfinished work. Congress still needs to act and hopefully soon to provide the care to the people who rushed to Ground Zero to help others, as well as the thousands who worked on the ‘pile’ in the aftermath to rebuild the site. We owe those heroes of 9/11 the care and compensation they deserve. We will always honor the first responders who lost their lives that day -- and those in uniform who risk their lives today and every day to defend America.

Madam Speaker, a very thoughtful general once observed that the loss of 1,000 lives is a statistic, but the loss of one life was a tragedy. There were thousands of tragedies that occurred 7 years ago today. I want to talk about one of them.  

It was a very long week here in Washington, that week of 9/11. It took three or four times the usual time for me to get back to New York. It was late at night. I was able to get a cab in New York to take me down to the World Trade Center, to the pier where they had set up all of the emergency work. I went there at that hour to find my wife, who is a mental health worker, one of those people who were asked to come down and volunteer.

As I waited for her to do the things that she and so many other people were doing, I walked around. There was a long, huge wall with pictures on 8 1/2 by 11, on napkins, on flyers that were drawn up, people who had pictures of their loved ones, their husbands, their wives, their children, if anybody saw them.

There were firemen walking around trying to console women who did not know yet if they were widows.

There were little dolls alongside the wall on the floor stretching for two blocks along this pier. They all had notes on them. They were from children who suffered the loss of parents in the Murrah Building disaster. And these notes all said things like, ‘When I was in trouble and frightened, someone gave me this doll to make me feel better. I send it to you and hope that you feel better.’

A fire chief came over to me and asked me if I would go over and just stand by this gentleman who was all alone at the wall. It was probably midnight. And this fellow in unique garb, he was a Hassidic Jew, dressed in the traditional big brim black hat, looking very much like the Amish do with the long black coat, and he stood in front of one flyer without blinking. The only thing he did was move back and forth, back and forth, staring at this picture.

I just stood next to him. And after a minute he spoke to me, without even looking at me, just staring at the picture on this flyer that looked like a younger version of himself, and he said, ‘That was my brother.’ He, I was told, was there every night doing this. ‘He was my brother. He called me to say good-bye.’

‘I told him,’ he said, ‘that he had to get out of that building. He had to get out right away.’ And he said to me, ‘I'm sitting holding hands with the young man who works in the cubicle next to mine, a young Puerto Rican kid who lives in a wheelchair, and there is no way for him to get out of this building. I told him he would not die alone, and I am just calling to say good-bye.’

There is nothing anyone could say, nothing I could say. I just stood there.

There are thousands of stories, there are thousands of lives, there are tens of thousands of people who were immediately impacted by relatives who died that day, who are heroes as well, some of whom knowingly, some of whom unknowingly went to their deaths, in addition to all of those who rushed into the building to save those that they could.

As we remember the first responders, as we remember the people who dug in that pile for so many days and weeks and months, risking their own lives, putting their health at risk and danger, as we know today, an issue that still has to be addressed, we remember also those who caused all of that anguish and pain, all of those thousands of tragedies, who changed history in that one incident, and rededicate ourselves to not being only strong, but smart, as we confront those threats and honor the memory of all those who were lost and all those who tried to help on that day." 

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