Bill Nelson: “I wish to speak about this day 2 years ago and what it signifies to our country. There is not a soul in this country who…”

“I wish to speak about this day 2 years ago and what it signifies to our country. There is not a soul in this country who does not remember exactly where they were and what they were doing on that fateful day that was so much of a watershed point in our country. I will tell you where I was. I was with the Senator from North Dakota and a number of others in a leadership meeting about 30 yards from here on the west front of the Capitol. We had broken up our meeting and were watching the television, watching the World Trade Center, when someone burst in the door and said, ``The Pentagon has been hit.'' We immediately looked to the window looking out across The Mall and saw the black smoke rising. In times such as that, it is interesting how you react. Since my wife and I had just moved into an apartment overlooking the southwest corner of the Pentagon, my instinctive reaction was to leap to a telephone and to try to get word to her to get out of the apartment and get to the basement garage. Of course, I did not know what was happening on that side of the Potomac River. I went back to the meeting room, and it was vacant. I walked into the hallway and saw everyone pouring down the stairs. I will never forget what I heard at the bottom of the stairs. I heard the Capitol Police shouting at the top of their lungs: ``Get out of the building. Get out of the building.'' The memories of that day are seared in the minds of so many of us.”