Watson Coleman: “my colleague from Minnesota has described the spirit of a people confronted with great tragedy. It was horrible to be…”

“my colleague from Minnesota has described the spirit of a people confronted with great tragedy. It was horrible to be there by that bridge and see those cars, some in the water, others that had burst on fire--a tractor trailer--to see a school bus on the precipice. I think it had dropped 20 feet. Had it gone a little further to the side, it would gone over the edge. Had it gone a little further forward, it would have been caught between crashing portions of steel and concrete. Had it gone another distance, it would have been in the water. Yet every one of those 60 kids walked away. We saw tragedy. There are those who have lost their lives and suffered great pain, but we also saw miracles. We saw the reaction of a community that came together at every level--the first responders, the citizens who came together to jump in the water to try and help folks who were in situations that were hard to understand. In addition to that, when Senator Klobuchar and I got there early in the morning, we sat in on a briefing with the Governor and the mayor and the first responders, the county commissioners, city council members--some Democrats, some Republicans. It didn't matter. I sat there as a former mayor remembering what it was like on 9/11, remembering how unprepared we were on 9/11.”