Remembering Our Heroes' Sacrifice
Like all Americans, I will never forget where I was the morning of the 9/11 attacks. I was traveling with my husband when I received the call from my mother that would change my life. I was living in New York City at the time, so when I heard the news, I was overwhelmed with horror and extreme anxiety for friends and loved ones in harm's way.
Now, as I reflect on that terrible day 10 years later, the overwhelming image that stays with me is the amazing acts of heroism we saw from ordinary Americans who didn't need to be asked to commit extraordinary acts. They ran up those towers as everyone else was running down to search for survivors, spending countless hours on the pile of rubble in the days that followed recovering those we had lost.
They came to America's rescue in our greatest hour of need. As a result, tens of thousands of these heroes became sick and are now literally dying from the toxins they inhaled at Ground Zero.
That's why in my first two years in the Senate I was so passionate about fulfilling our moral obligation to the heroes of 9/11, providing them with the proper health care and compensation they need.
Today, as we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the atrocity of 9/11, we must continue to stand by our first responders and provide them with the tools and resources they need to handle a major national emergency and save lives.
