Ernest Istook: “I rise today to commend and to thank the employees of the United States Customs Service in New York City. These…”

“I rise today to commend and to thank the employees of the United States Customs Service in New York City. These dedicated men and women give new meaning to the term public service. On behalf of all Americans, this resolution says to them, thank you for your steadfast work following the terrorist attacks of last September, steadfast work that continues this day, as it has every day since September 11. Like a number of other Federal law enforcement agencies, Customs had its principal office in 6 World Trade Center. Thanks to lessons learned from the previous bombing several years prior, they had updated and practiced their evacuation plans. That is fortunate because in large part due to this, none of the more than 750 Customs employees that were there were seriously injured, and none were killed. However, the emotional pain was very real with them, as with all of America. It continues to this day. Yet these Customs employees more than rose to the occasion. In addition to assisting in the broader search and rescue efforts at the World Trade Center, these men and women were quickly engaged in the investigative efforts to find the responsible parties, and to guard against any additional attacks.”