Burgess Owens: “I would like to urge all of my colleagues to join us in taking this step that Members of Congress can take. There are a…”

“I would like to urge all of my colleagues to join us in taking this step that Members of Congress can take. There are a lot of things we cannot do. I am proud of the fact that so many Americans have responded in doing the things that they can do. They can give blood, and they are giving blood from all over the country. You can do that. There are some things that we can do in Congress without having additional information, without a great deal of planning. We can make it easier for those who have paid the supreme price, for the families of those who have paid the supreme price, to at least know certain things are taken care of while they contend with their own grieving. The stories are numerous of eyewitness accounts. One that stands out in my mind most is the one, and I have been riveted to the television and heard many of them, the account of the young man on the 85th floor who came down the steps. He said that the biggest difficulty they encountered was at the 34th floor when they encountered firemen who were coming up and who were so exhausted because of the gear they were carrying until one of them almost passed out. They stopped to help the firemen. They were going out. And I think that those who gave those accounts got out safely, but I am certain that the firemen they encountered are among those firemen who perished there.”