Pallone bemoans the lack of unity 25 years after 9/11

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. was at the Capitol when the first plane struck the World Trade Center a quarter-century ago this Friday. 

He was coordinating a series of floor speeches by his fellow Democrats when he was told that lawmakers needed to leave the chamber. They assembled in the Democratic leader’s office to see the crash and then the tower begin to collapse.

As they evacuated the Capitol, Pallone said he saw a plume of smoke rise from the Pentagon and he knew the U.S. had been the victim of a terrorist attack. He learned about the passengers on Flight 93 that attacked the hijackers and crashed a plane that likely was headed for the Capitol. And he joined lawmakers of both parties on the Capitol steps to sing God Bless America.

“It was a sense of unity, not only that heroism but the sense of unity that day, Democrat, Republican, left or right, not only for Americans, but also as we learned in the next few days our allies,” Pallone (D-Long Branch)  recalled Wednesday in advance of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. “Everyone was there who were expressing a sense of unity against this terrorist attack, and you know, basically supportive of America and our values and our ideas.”

There was still shock that the U.S. could be attacked by terrorists, who had hijacked four passenger airlines to fly them into buildings. 

“My impression was that Washington was essentially invincible, that no one would dare attack Washington or the World Trade Center, the financial capital,” Pallone said. “I began.to sink in and was pretty disheartening to say the least.”

And there was the feelings of thanks for the passengers aboard Flight 93. 

“The heroism of the passengers and the crew who brought the plane down and probably saved my life and the lives of a lot of the members of Congress because that plane was headed towards us,” Pallone said. “I just want to express my personal gratitude to the people on Flight 93 for what they did, which was an incredible act of heroism.’

But all that unity and warm and fuzzy feelings have given way to vitriol and attacks in the intervening 25 years, Pallone said. He said it now was a “blame game.”

“Then the enemy was a terrorist that attacked the World Trade Center,”  he said. “As time went on, it was like, Well, you didn’t do this, you didn’t do that, blame somebody else.’ And that’s what we’re into now in politics. If I don’t like what’s going on, then blame somebody else rather than trying to do something to help collectively.

“And that’s gotta stop, because if we want to do things collectively, we have to have unity. The emphasis has got to be more on what we can do together to make a difference to help people rather than blaming Democrats versus Republicans or some group.”

Congress finally approved a program to help first responders who developed health problems after 9/11 after some officials downplayed the risks. 

Lawmakers have renewed the program, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act, which was named for a New York City police officer from North Arlington who died of a respiratory disease attributed to breathing in dust at the World Trade Center site after 9/11.

Pallone said enough funding to continue the program for more than a decade, but the team of medical personnel who certified that first responders and their families were eligible for compensation was slashed by President Donald Trump’s administration as billionaire Elon Musk cut the medical staff as part of his efforts to shrink the size of the federal government.

“So I’m just determined to make sure that that program continues while people are alive, continue to certify people as eligible, and that it’s robust,” Pallone said. “Now, I’m told that some of the people had been rehired, or new people have been brought on, but it’s still a problem in terms of the number of staff. We need to have more people work in this program, make sure it continues to be funded.”