Kent Conrad: “anniversaries are a time for reflection, and I wanted to take a few moments to share what emotions this North Dakotan is…”

“anniversaries are a time for reflection, and I wanted to take a few moments to share what emotions this North Dakotan is experiencing. First, I feel sorrow, I feel sorrow for the thousands of innocent victims and the scores and scores of families and friends most directly and tragically affected. Those murdered were fathers and brothers, daughters and spouses; they were coworkers earning a living and supporting their families; they were best men in weddings, and mothers flying home to see their children. They were also honorable Americans, as well as citizens from 86 countries around the world. The victims included North Dakotan Ann Nelson. Ann was the kind of daughter every parent wishes for, she was intelligent, caring, adventurous, and had a real zest for life. Ann was simply doing her job that day in the World Trade Center. Ann, the pride and joy of Stanley, ND, didn't make it home from work that fateful day. When I think about Ann and her family and the other victims and their loved ones, I also feel anger. One of my home State newspapers, the Grand Forks Herald put it best, "Americans should accept that at the core of their grief is a white-hot fury and a sense of being outrageously wronged. . . . The World Trade Center didn't collapse in a strong wind. The Pentagon didn't fall into a sinkhole from an abandoned mine, and United Flight 93 didn't crash in a Pennsylvania field because it ran out of gas.…”