Bob Menendez: “this amendment is about justice and restitution. Twenty-one years ago, on a cloudless morning in 2001, nearly 3,000…”

“this amendment is about justice and restitution. Twenty-one years ago, on a cloudless morning in 2001, nearly 3,000 Americans, including 750 from my home State of New Jersey, were senselessly murdered in the terrorist attacks on September 11. Mr. President, 9/11 families are the reason why ``Never Forget'' continues to be a clarion call in this Congress. They are the reason we seek a vote on the Fairness for 9/11 Families Act. I do this alongside Senators Cotton and Sullivan, who worked with me to bring justice and relief to also the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing victims and so many other Americans who have suffered at the hands of state sponsors of terrorism. Our amendment is straightforward. It expands coverage of the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund to deliver justice and relief to previously excluded 9/11 families who, because of this exclusion, lost out on the ability to get some of the compensation, as well as the families of the victims of the Beirut Marine barracks bombing and the Khobar Towers attack. Many of these families have waited for years--and, in some cases, decades--for relief, and that is what we seek today. I believe that we can take a voice vote. I turn to Senator Whitehouse, yield to him for a moment. I know he wants to speak to it.”