Patrick Leahy: “we remember the victims of the attack on this country 2 years ago today. Last year, Congress held a special session in…”

“we remember the victims of the attack on this country 2 years ago today. Last year, Congress held a special session in New York on this day. As part of those proceedings, the poet laureate of the United States, Billy Collins, read a poem written for the occasion entitled ``The Names.'' He dedicated it to the victims of September 11 and to their survivors. I believe it appropriate to reread that poem again here today: The Names Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night. A fine rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze, And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows, I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened, Then Baxter and Calabro, Davis and Eberling, names falling into place As droplets fell through the dark. Names printed on the ceiling of the night. Names slipping around a water bend. Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream. In the morning, I walked out barefoot Among thousands of flowers Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears, And each had a name-- Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal Then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins. Names written in the air And stitched into the cloth of the day. A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox. Monogram on a torn shirt. I see you spelled out on storefront windows And on the bright unfurled awnings of this city, I say the syllables as I turn a corner-- Kelly and Lee, Medina, Nardella, and O'Connor.…”