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Essays by Congressman Don Manzullo
President Reagan
Rain. It finally came on the day
of his funeral, the day we would say good-bye to one of the most
significant figures in our history. It threatened the day
before, as authorities pondered the impact of the massive thunderstorm
on the tens of thousands of people waiting hours in line to enter the
Rotunda to gain a glimpse of the flag-draped casket on the catafalque
where Lincoln’s body had rested.
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Ground Zero
The English language has many adjectives. None can describe the New
York I saw on Monday. One hundred eight members of Congress traveled
from Washington to New York to visit Ground Zero. I really did not
want to go, but I felt compelled to go. From Penn Station we
traveled by bus to Pier 92 on the Hudson River, where Governor
Pataki and Mayor Giuliani briefed us.
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September 11, 2001
Tuesday,
September 11, 2001, started like an ordinary day. I rode to the
Capitol with Congressman Lee Terry and at 9:30 a.m. crossed the 14th
street bridge, a quarter mile from the Pentagon.Ten
minutes later, the airplane struck the building. As I entered my
office, my staff was watching thick smoke pouring from the Pentagon.
I sent them home. With no ride myself, I asked my scheduler and
legislative assistant, Katy Whitfield from Crystal Lake, to take me
home. As we left, we heard rumors of bombs exploding at the State
Department, the Senate and on the Mall. We even heard a rumor that
the Sears Tower in Chicago suffered the same fate as the World Trade
Center in New York.
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The Oath of President George W.
Bush
The forecast was rain, sleet, then
snow.Many of the same national media that
were trying to prepare America for the day, had failed to report that a hand count had
been concluded in Miami-Dade County, where 10,000 plus ballots had been contested, and by
anybody's "standard" Bush had actually picked up votes. But Freda and I didn't
need anybody to prepare us; we had been waiting since the spring of 1997, when we
concluded it was George W. Bush that should be the next president.
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