Lois Capps: “Mr. Speaker, in communities across the land, we gather to commemorate the unspeakable attacks against our Nation 1 year…”

“Mr. Speaker, in communities across the land, we gather to commemorate the unspeakable attacks against our Nation 1 year ago today. Even with the passage of time, there are still no words to adequately describe our pain, sorrow, and our anger. Our hearts remain heavy with grief for the 3,000 souls who were lost, and we continue to mourn with their families and their loved ones. I feel especially heartbroken for all the children who lost their fathers and mothers on this terrible day, and for all of the babies who came into the world after their fathers were killed. These young lives have been permanently and senselessly altered by those who so erroneously believe that extremism and hate pave the road to salvation. Now it is our duty to help these children fulfill their dreams and understand that their parents died in an attack on the freedoms and values we hold to be self-evident. It is also important to pay tribute to the acts of courage and heroism carried out by so many people: the firefighters, police and rescue personnel, the passengers on the doomed aircraft, and by countless citizens who volunteered at the crash sites and around the Nation.”