Frank Pallone: “I did want to take to the floor this evening on the evening of September 11 to basically talk about the meaning of…”

“I did want to take to the floor this evening on the evening of September 11 to basically talk about the meaning of September 11 to me and particularly to my constituents in New Jersey. I wanted to particularly make reference to two events that I participated in in the last 24 hours. Last evening, after the House adjourned during the day for votes, I went up to Middletown, New Jersey, which is a town in my district, in Monmouth County, that suffered more deaths in the World Trade Center building during the attack on September 11 than any other town in New Jersey or maybe in the whole metropolitan area. There was a memorial service, a dedication of a garden in memory of the 36 residents of Middletown who died on September 11. It was a very moving ceremony. We had relatives of the victims who made speeches. The other event I went to this morning was at my own high school in Long Branch, New Jersey, where the entire student body from kindergarten, I believe, all the way to 12th grade, to the graduating seniors, showed up at the football stadium for a service. I think we must have had probably over 4,000 people there this morning. It also was very moving.”