*EPF407 09/13/01
Text: Senate Majority Leader Daschle Expresses Sorrow, Resolve
(Vows America will rebuild, recover) (560)

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle expressed his support on September 12 for the joint congressional resolution condemning the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and his support for the victims and their families.

Calling the attacks "an assault on our people and our freedom," Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, said he was outraged as an American and pained beyond words as a husband and father. His statement also included a scriptural passage from the Book of Isaiah, a poetic reference to rebuilding structures and replanting trees.

Following is the text of Daschle's statement:

(begin text)

U.S. Senate
Office of the Majority Leader
Washington, DC

September 12, 2001

Floor Statement by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle

On a Joint Resolution of Condemnation for Yesterday's Attacks And Support for the Victims

It is with pain, sorrow, anger, and resolve that I stand before this Senate -- a symbol for 212 years of the strength of our Democracy -- and say that America will emerge from this tragedy as we have emerged from all adversity -- united and strong.

The America in which we woke today is far different from the one in which we woke yesterday. This morning, as our rescue workers and medical personnel continue their heroic work, we begin to truly understand the enormity of what has happened.

My heart aches for the people of New York, our men and women serving at the Pentagon, the passengers and crews of the four hijacked aircraft, and for their families and friends.

These attacks were an assault on our people and our freedom. They aimed at the heart of the American community, and the symbols and structures of our economic and military strength. As an American and an elected representative, I am outraged. As a husband and a father, I am pained beyond words.

Last night, we sent a message to the world that even in the face of such cowardly and heinous acts, the doors of democracy will not close.

This joint resolution we lay down today condemns yesterday's attacks, expresses our sympathy for the victims, and our support for the President as Commander-in-Chief. The world should know that the members of both parties, in both houses, stand united in this: the full resources of our government will be brought to bear in aiding the search and rescue, and in hunting down those responsible, and those who may have aided or harbored them.

Nothing can replace the losses that have been suffered. I know that there is only the smallest measure of inspiration that can be taken from this devastation. But there is a passage in the Bible, from Isaiah, that I think speaks to all of us at times like this. "The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars."

That is what we will do. We will rebuild and we will recover. The people of America will stand together because the people of America have always stood together, and those of us who are privileged to serve this great nation will stand with you. God bless the people of America.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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