Ernest Istook: “Everyone who was in this country in 1941 knows where they were on Pearl Harbor day. Everyone knows where they were when…”

“Everyone who was in this country in 1941 knows where they were on Pearl Harbor day. Everyone knows where they were when the Challenger blew up as it was launched from Cape Canaveral. And everyone in Oklahoma will always know where they were at 9:02 in the morning on April 19, 1995. The shock from that blast was felt as far as 55 miles away. I myself was in a building 8 miles away and people were afraid from the shaking of it that it was going to come down as well. We have all seen the depictions on TV, in the newspapers and in magazines about what happened there, but it does not capture it. If anyone on this floor has not seen some of the pictures, I have brought a collection. But nothing can convey what really occurred and to how many people it happened. But if you see someone from Oklahoma with tears in their eyes right now, you cannot tell when it is tears of sorrow and when it is tears of pride. For our State, our city, our community has united like I believe no one has ever seen before in the face of a common disaster. When the workers came in, and we are so grateful they did, from nearby Maryland here, from Virginia, from California, from Arizona, from Minnesota, from Texas, from all over this country, they came together with help, and we say thank you.”