Congress meets in New York to commemorate Sept. 11 attacks

<br>NEW YORK (AP) _ Congress honored the human loss and heroism of the Sept. 11 attacks _ and swore the nation's resolve in the war against terrorism _ in a rare and somber special session convened

Friday, September 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Congress honored the human loss and heroism of the Sept. 11 attacks _ and swore the nation's resolve in the war against terrorism _ in a rare and somber special session convened Friday in the city hit the hardest.

More than 300 House and Senate members came to Federal Hall, the massive marble-columned building on the site where Congress first met more than two centuries ago _ and located only a few blocks from where the World Trade Center once punctuated the city's skyline.

``From this city's one day of horror _ out of all the loss and sorrow _ has come a strength, a resolve, a determination, which from Manhattan to Mississippi, now binds us together for the mighty work that lies ahead,'' Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said during a 50-minute session.

Vice President Dick Cheney joined House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., in presiding over the session, with a huge American flag behind them. Although largely symbolic, many lawmakers say the trip was a necessary statement of support for the city and its people as the Sept. 11 anniversary approaches.

``We still feel the loss of every single person who perished on that fateful day,'' Hastert said. ``But as we lament the loss of life, we can marvel at the bravery of those who rushed to help.''

Cheney said the Revolutionary War was still a fresh memory when that first Congress met more than 200 years ago in New York. Today, he said, the nation must rise to defend the principles laid down by those founding fathers.

``As a nation born in revolution, we know that our freedom came at a very high price. We have no intention now of letting it slip away,'' Cheney said.

Those sentiments were echoed by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

``Let history record that the terrorists failed,'' he said. ``They did not understand that the true strength of America is not in steel, is not in concrete. It's in our shared faith in liberty and in our unwavering commitment to each other.''

The poet laureate of the United States, Billy Collins, read a poem written for the event, titled ``The Names,'' a reflection on the thousands who died in the attacks.

``So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart,'' Collins said.

``We think of those last calls on cellphones from a doomed building ... that the life of a good person is like a wellspring that does not run dry,'' said House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri. ``The sorrow has been matched by strength ... not just to defeat terrorism but to show once again that good can triumph over evil.''

As the session closed, the Stuyvesant High School choir sang ``God Bless America'' joined by most members of Congress, who clasped hands as they sang.

The lawmakers then walked about five minutes down Wall Street _ closed to traffic and heavily guarded _ to a hotel for a luncheon with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. A wreath-laying was also planned later at the World Trade Center site where hijackers slammed two jetliners into the towers.

Several dozen demonstrators gathered a block from the hall, protesting that too little of the $20 billion that Congress has appropriated for rebuilding New York is getting to low-income residents and complaining that the Environmental Protection Agency has not done enough to clean up apartments infested with asbestos dust from the collapsing World Trade Center towers.

Accompanied by many spouses and aides, lawmakers arrived via two special Amtrak trains from Washington for the session. Police presence was heavy, with police dogs and officers with assault weapons standing guard as legislators boarded.

The sense of history was underscored when the Rev. Daniel Coughlin, the House chaplain, delivered the invocation with the Bible used by George Washington to take the oath of office at his first presidential inauguration.

The session in New York marked only the second occasion in modern times when Congress has met outside Washington. The purpose was unmistakable: to show solidarity with the city that lost more than 2,800 people in the attacks.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said the site where Congress met at the nation's birth has special significance in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

``Congress returning to its roots at Federal Hall shows that this nation will endure,'' Armey said.

Bloomberg, appearing on NBC's ``Today'' program, said the session gives the city ``our chance to say thank you to Congress and to the American people for the support they gave us. We couldn't have gotten through this without their efforts.''

Security was extremely tight, with hundreds of New York City police officers on overtime and the Capitol Police and Secret Service traveling from Washington to beef up the ranks.

New York has been struggling with multibillion dollar budget deficits since the attacks devastated the city's financial center. At the request of Bloomberg, the Annenberg Foundation offered $1 million to pay for the ceremonial session.

The last time Congress met in New York, in 1789-90, lawmakers watched as George Washington was inaugurated as the nation's first president. The chunk of sandstone flooring where Washington stood was on hand for Friday's event at Federal Hall, just blocks from the 16-acre site where the 110-story towers once stood.

New York was then the nation's capital. But lawmakers held their final session in New York on Aug. 12, 1790, having decided to move to Philadelphia for a decade while a new capital city was built in what became Washington.

Some lawmakers had reservations about the trip, especially given the crush of unfinished business.

``I think Congress ought to be here, working,'' Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said Thursday. ``There's not anything that I can do by going up there. Lord knows, there's not anything more that can be said about our sorrow.''