Carper Praises Dover Air Force Base from the Senate Floor

WASHINGTON, DC- Senator Tom Carper praised Dover Air Force Base and the heroic efforts of those receiving bodies at the mortuary in a speech given on the floor of the Senate. A transcript of his comments follows. “Mr. President, during the course of the past week, we have witnessed extraordinary acts of bravery: aboard the aircraft that were hijacked, at the World Trade Center Towers, and at the Pentagon. In addition, we have witnessed extraordinary acts of kindness by people from all walks of life in this nation who have reached into their own pockets and hearts and sought to comfort those who have lost loved ones, who sought to donate something of their own, including their blood and money, to assist those who have suffered egregious losses… …I visited the Dover Air Force Base in the State of Delaware and spent time at the mortuary where the bodies of scores of victims of the crash and tragedy at the Pentagon are being taken. There I had the opportunity to thank men and women-active duty reservists, members of the National Guard, and civilians-who have come from all across the country in order to try to identify the remains of those who lost their lives in the crash at the Pentagon, in order to try to be able to provide to families who lost loved ones a sense of closure, to be able to take the remains of their husband, wife, son, or daughter and to be able to give them a proper funeral, to lay them to rest at their final resting place with dignity. The job is as difficult and challenging as perhaps any job that has been undertaken in the wake of these tragedies. I want to express on behalf of not just the people of Delaware and those of us in my state who are affected, but people throughout the country who are touched and have lost a relative, a loved one, who will have that sense of closure because of the efforts going on today, yesterday, last week, and the days to follow at the Dover Air Force Base. We are fortunate in this country to have so many heroes and heroines. As I speak some of them are working in the central part of the second smallest State in America.”