Joe Crowley: “I wish I could count how many times Members of Congress have come to this floor about the need to ``never forget''…”

“I wish I could count how many times Members of Congress have come to this floor about the need to ``never forget'' September 11, 9/11, its victims, and our first responders. Members have offered resolutions, have given speeches, have come to the floor with shocking images that are already seared into our minds forever. Through it all, we hear this refrain of ``never forget.'' I know I will never forget. I will never forget the friends and the family member I lost that day. I have constituents who will never forget. They will never forget the phone call they may have received that day of a loved one lost or the neighbor they saw for the very last time. When I visit a firehouse in Woodside, in Maspeth, in Sunnyside in Queens, or in Throgs Neck in the Bronx, I know they will never forget. I also know this is not just about my constituents, not just about my city of New York, not just about my State of New York, but this is about the United States of America. I know that Americans will never forget the days, the weeks, the months spent, by the men and women who worked on the pile, trying to rescue and save lives, the recovery, and the eventual cleanup efforts that took place in Lower Manhattan. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the only people I believe who seem in danger of forgetting are my colleagues right here in the House of Representatives. That is the only explanation I can give for why they let the James Zadroga 9/11 Health Act expire last week.…”