Francis Scott Key Bridge

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I especially thank him for his leadership to the great State of Maryland and the city of Baltimore, as well as for calling for this Special Order this evening so that we can come together and express the heartbreak that we all felt and now to commemorate the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and these six beautiful souls, in loving memory of them, who lost their lives on that dark morning.

I thank Congressman Mfume for organizing the Special Order. I join him and Congressman Sarbanes in recognizing the leadership role of the Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore. I want to pay tribute to the mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott, and to all of our congressional delegation for uniting together in a bipartisan way in response to this tragedy.

Just to remind you, it was 2 weeks ago, in the dark of night and braving the cold, a crew got to work making repairs to the Francis Scott Key Bridge. They were doing their jobs so that 30,000 people a day could go to theirs, to do their jobs.

Our love and prayers are with those who lost their lives in this collapse and with their families who lost a husband, a brother, a father, a son.

Our gratitude is with the heroic emergency responders who responded so quickly and saved lives, as well as the teams working quickly to clear the channel.

The magnitude of the collapse cannot be understated. Six families shattered, first and foremost. Tens of thousands of commuters rerouted, paralysis of a port that handles $80 billion in commerce, sending a shock wave through the entire economy. Inspired by the love, unity, and resilience of the Baltimore community, Baltimore will rebuild.

President Biden, as has been mentioned, and the Congress must be there with resources to support every step of the way.

On that score, I would say, having been in Congress for a long time, sadly, we have been witness to many natural and other disasters that have befallen our communities, whether it was the bridge in Minnesota, whether it was the storm in Florida, whether it was Katrina in New Orleans, or whether it was water damage in Iowa. The list goes on and on, but we have all been there for each other. Maybe not all of us, but most of us have been there.

This is a big, big tragedy, but in terms of cost, much smaller than many of the hurricanes and the rest that have happened in the rest of the country. We can learn from them. Whether it is unemployment insurance for the workers, whatever it happens to be, we want to make sure that we utilize every resource at our disposal to bring people together.

The Governor has pointed out, as has Congressman Mfume, Congressman Sarbanes, and members of the delegation, the mayor, and our Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, that this is a national challenge. If you are a restaurateur in Tennessee, you are affected by this. If you are an autoworker in Ohio, you are affected by this. If you are a salesperson in West Virginia, you are affected by this, because of the products that come through and the jobs that are affected by it.

In closing, my father was mayor of Baltimore my whole life. When I was in first grade and when I went off to college, he was still the mayor of Baltimore. That is where my heart is.

I always was so proud of the fact that the National Anthem was written in Baltimore. Francis Scott Key, in the War of 1812, wrote the National Anthem. My brother, Tommy, who also was mayor of Baltimore, was always fond of singing it in his way.

The line in the song that I always liked the best, and I think that applies here, is when he says: ``Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.'' That is when I start cheering at the game, not at the end, but at that point, as I just did at opening day in San Francisco. Those were the words penned by Francis Scott Key as he gazed upon the ramparts. Now a bridge bearing his name is near where those ramparts were.

As we rebuild, we will, indeed, give proof through the night that our flag is still there, our flag being our unifying symbol of our country that we are all in this together. We will be there. We will learn from other disasters. We will teach other disasters in the future by how we, in a new fresh way, in the Baltimore way, Baltimore strong, rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Proof through the night that our flag is still there.

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