NEW YORK, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The pomp of Washington came to the tragic and still-healing milieu of lower Manhattan Friday as Congress had a ceremonial session to honor the victims of last year's terror attacks. It was the first session of Congress in New York since the first Congress in 1789.
Both houses of Congress passed joint resolutions in July to allow the nearly unprecedented move of holding a session outside the nation's capital, and members used the completely ceremonial nature of the session to reflect on the effect of the attacks, which killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and to note the national unity that ensued.
"(New York) suffered the greatest of all cruelties with generosity, valor and grace," said Vice President Dick Cheney, who, as president of the Senate, led the meeting along with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
"We are filled with an abiding sense of gratitude to the people who live and work in this great city, especially the courageous rescuers, for the way they inspired a stunned and wounded nation," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. "In your countless acts of heroism and compassion, a terrible beauty was born. In an hour of horror and grief, you showed us how to go on. Here in New York, at the Pentagon and in that lonely field in Pennsylvania, the wounds the terrorists inflicted were deep. But America's resolve was deeper."
The session was conducted just blocks from the 16-acre site of the World Trade Center, in Federal Hall, the site of the first Congress in 1789, a building that also saw the swearing in of the nation's first president, George Washington, and was the legislative hall where the Bill of Rights was introduced.
The members of Congress departed Washington under heavy guard via train Friday morning and left Federal Hall for a luncheon with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, before walking a few blocks to the World Trade Center site for a wreath-laying ceremony.
In a series of short speeches by the leadership, the emphasis was put on letting victims and their families know that as time passes, Congress and the nation will not forget their loss and valor.
"Today we say to the families who look to this Sept. 11th and know that they will know the pain of their piercing loss all over again: We are with you as one, as the family of America," said House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. "We pray that for you, memory will bring hope as well as tears. We have faith that love outlasts life -- and you prove it every day as you carry on the dream of a lost husband or wife, for the child that was both of yours, and in the truest sense always will be."
"We are here today to demonstrate our commitment to the city of New York," said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. "We will do everything we can to rebuild this city both physically and spiritually."
Also speaking at the ceremony were Poet Laureate Billy Collins, who read a poem dedicated to the victims of the attacks; House Chaplin Daniel Coughlin; and several members of New York's congressional delegation.
Congress has approved billions of dollars to help restore downtown Manhattan, which was decimated economically and physically in the attacks but not all of the money promised has arrived, as lawmakers fight over a dwindling federal budget, which has begun to run a budget deficit. This battle has not been lost on some New Yorkers despite the kind rhetoric inside Federal Hall.
"It's nice they came, but they need to help us more with money," said one taxicab driver, who did not want his name published. "Tourism is down. It is bad for me. But today I get lots of work, so I'm glad they came."
