John Kerry: “yesterday the world marked the anniversary of the triple tragedy--the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis--that…”

“yesterday the world marked the anniversary of the triple tragedy--the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis--that struck Japan on March 11 of last year. I rise today to commemorate that heartbreaking day for our good friend and ally and to pay tribute to the remarkable resilience of the Japanese people in the face of this unprecedented series of catastrophic events. Even as Japan labors to rebuild devastated regions in the northeast, it continues to make enormous contributions to the international community, so let's take this moment to acknowledge the ambitious reconstruction effort underway in Japan and its indispensable role in world affairs. Any one of these three events--a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that destroyed entire towns and villages, a tsunami that swept away thousands, and the ensuing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant--would have been enough to overwhelm and paralyze any country, any government. To have all three occur at the same time simply strains the imagination. Yet the Japanese Government and the Japanese people responded to these events with their characteristic resilience, both in the immediate aftermath when local first responders and Japan's Self-Defense Forces responded so heroically in the face of almost unimaginable destruction and today in rebuilding shattered lives and communities by seeking new opportunities for economic growth and innovation, including through new green energy initiatives.…”