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Filed for intro on 01/14/2002
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 497
By McNally
A RESOLUTION relative to the erection of memorials to
commemorate the terrorist attacks of September
11,
2001.
WHEREAS, the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001 constitute a tragic
event unlike
any other in United States history and represent a defining moment in the
lives of many diverse
generations of American citizens; and
WHEREAS, the United States of America has responded with an outpouring of
unity,
including the resolve to end the threat of terrorism by diplomacy and
military force; and
WHEREAS, the President of the United States has opened the discussion
about an
appropriate national memorial; and
WHEREAS, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was established during World War II to
answer a
national crisis; and
WHEREAS, the Oak Ridge High School Student Council has proposed an idea to
memorialize the victims of the attacks on a national basis by using pieces
of steel from the
World Trade Center Towers rubble to create memorial displays in every
cooperating high school in the country; and
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WHEREAS,
the memorial displays would also include a plaque with an inscription that
describes the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and testifies to the
strength of the American
spirit; the inscription would close with: “May these remnants inspire
the people of the world in
the advance of freedom and the destruction of evil.”; and
WHEREAS, this proposal by the Oak Ridge High School Student Council would
place
tangible reminders of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in the high
schools of America,
sobering and focusing our educational institutions in this new and
dangerous age; and
WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln said that the United States of America is “the
last, best
hope of the earth,” and that if one wanted to see what society would be
like tomorrow, one
should look at the classrooms of today”; and
WHEREAS, the memorials proposed by the Oak Ridge High School Student
Council
would unite the past with the future, ensuring that the importance of the
terrible events of
September 11, 2001 and the resulting conflicts will never be forgotten;
now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CONCURRING, That the General Assembly hereby endorses and supports the
concept of the creation of memorials honoring the men and women whose
lives were lost during the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on this great Nation, such memorials
to be constructed
from recovered steel from the World Trade Center remains and erected in
participating high
schools around this country.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this General Assembly supports the
establishment
of a charitable fund that would seek and accept contributions from
individuals, businesses, civic
organizations, churches, and governments, both in the United States of
America and abroad, to
purchase steel retrieved from the remains of the World Trade Center, as
well as other materials
that would be needed, to create such memorial displays and accompanying
plaques and to
transport them to participating high schools around the country.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this General Assembly urges the other States
of the
United States of America and the President and the United States Congress
to support this
proposal as well.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we applaud the students, Student Council, and
faculty of Oak Ridge High School for their outstanding patriotism and
well-conceived proposal
and extend to them our best wishes for every future success.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That appropriate copies of this resolution be
transmitted
to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States of
America, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of
Representatives, the President and the Secretary of the United States
Senate, the Honorable George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York,
and the Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York.
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