Barbara Boxer: “as the American people struggle to come to terms with the horrific events of Tuesday, September 11, we are reminded…”

“as the American people struggle to come to terms with the horrific events of Tuesday, September 11, we are reminded again and again of the countless individual tragedies still playing out in every corner of our country: another firefighter is laid to rest, a classroom copes with the loss of a teacher, a baby is born who will never know her father, a family accepts that a loved one will never be found. We are all haunted by such stories, each one profound in its deep sadness and, considered together, staggering in their scope. None of us is untouched by last Tuesday's terror, and it is now painfully clear that many residents of California were part of each tragic moment of that tragic day. Some were trapped in the World Trade Center towers. Some were at work in the Pentagon. And the fates of some were sealed as they boarded planes bound for San Francisco or Los Angeles. I offer today this tribute to the dozens of Californians who perished on that awful morning. I want to assure the victims' families that their fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters will not be forgotten. As a nation, we hold them close. Words alone cannot convey the depth of our dismay, but the names of those Californians who lost their lives provide a stark and simple symbol of our anger and our pain. The list that follows may well grow. I will honor each one in every way that I can.…”