Recognizing a National Week of Hope in Commemoration of the 10-Year Anniversary of the Terrorist Bombing in Oklahoma City

RECOGNIZING A NATIONAL WEEK OF HOPE IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE TERRORIST BOMBING IN OKLAHOMA CITY -- (House of Representatives - April 20, 2005)

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Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 184, a bill recognizing a National Week of Hope in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago, on April 19, 1995, an act of unimaginable death and destruction occurred in Oklahoma City when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was blown up in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil, killing 168 of our friends and family, 19 of them children. In that instance, America's heartland lost its innocence. It shocked our Nation. It changed our lives forever.

Few events in the past quarter century have rocked Americans' perceptions of themselves and their institutions and brought together the people of our Nation with greater intensity than this heinous act. My primary district office was a block and a half away from the Murrah Building. I will never forget, I will never forget being in Dallas with the rest of the Oklahoma Federal delegation at a BRAC hearing when a news station radio reporter tapped me on the shoulder and said, Congressman, we have a report that the Federal building in Oklahoma City has been bombed. They say the building is gone. Where is your office? The thoughts that went through my mind in that instant about my loyal staffers.

The delegation came rushing back. As I walked through my damaged office, a block and a half away, on the opposite side of the Murrah Building, looking at the destruction, and being thankful I had lost none of my people, but knowing the heartbreak, the helplessness we all felt looking at that terror, that devastation that transpired on that day.

Now, the bombing was a cowardly act of tragic proportions, and 10 years after the bombing, many of those affected are still trying to make sense of it. But what we know for certain is that on that day we came together as a State and as a Nation in the face of adversity. We comforted those afflicted, we rebuilt our devastated city, we did not let the terrorists win.

I want to take this time to honor and remember not only those who lost their lives, but also those who survived. We honor those who lost loved ones, those who upon hearing of the devastation rushed to the city to offer what help they could, the firemen, the policemen, the nurses, the structural engineers, even the community members who brought food and water for the rescuers. They are heroes to all Oklahomans.

Like so many other people in Oklahoma, this event has shaped my life, and as the U.S. Congressman representing downtown Oklahoma City at the time of the bombing, I have had the privilege and the opportunity to work these past 10 years to help ease the burden on Oklahoma City as a result of that devastating tragedy. From requesting Federal money to assisting in the rebuilding efforts, to introducing to the House the legislation that established the national memorial, I am honored to have had the chance to help in some small way.

Mr. Speaker, I close today the way I closed a speech I made on this very House floor on May 2, 1995, just 13 days after the attack. As you remember, a spontaneous memorial formed around the perimeter of the Murrah Building, just as one did years later in New York City, a mound of wreaths, bouquets, teddy bears, tear-stained poems laid out, paying tribute to those who perished.

One particular offering spoke, I believe, for all Oklahomans. It consisted of a teddy bear with a paper heart attached, bearing a crayon inscription which read as follows: "Oklahoma, brokenhearted, yes; broken spirit, never." Ten years after the bombing, we Oklahomans are stronger than ever.

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