Consul General Speeches

Remarks in Commemoration of the Fifth Anniversary of September 11, 2001
U.S. Consulate General Amsterdam

Thank you for joining me today.  I’ve spent a lot of time over the last week thinking about the terrible events that took place five years ago on this day.  I’ve thought about how the attacks affected me as a person, as a mother, as a Foreign Service officer, as an American. 
My experience of September 11 may have been very much like yours.  I had just arrived in London a week earlier, and was at my house receiving my shipment of household effects.  A colleague called me and told me to turn on my TV or radio because something terrible was happening.  I will always remember that phone call.  At that time, we didn’t really understand how terrible the day would become but there was no mistaking the sense of urgency and foreboding in her voice. 
In the midst of these events we hardly had time for reflection.  Over the next days and weeks my colleagues in London did what I’m sure you were doing here:  helping people who were desperately looking for news of family or friends in New York, and assisting those caught up in the chaos of the full flight groundstop. 
We took thousands of offers of assistance – from people offering a bed to Americans stranded at the airport, to municipalities offering to send fire and rescue squads.  Children emptied their piggy banks and sent their own toys and handmade cards.  These offers came to Embassies and Consulates from all over the world, and provided light and hope to the American people during one of our darkest hours. 
Today, I have been very moved to see that people have thought to bring flowers.  We see around us expressions of condolence – and of solidarity – as we stand together against those who wished to tear us apart. 
And as we look to the future we can do so with confidence that hope will triumph over hatred and that humanity will prevail.
Inescapably, when I think of September 11 my thoughts turn to those who lost their lives.  I think about those who showed tremendous courage – racing up smoke-filled stairwells in the Twin Towers, carrying the injured away from the burning Pentagon building, rushing up the aisle of an aircraft to thwart the terrorists’ deadly plans.  And I think about the families and the friends of the 3000 victims of September 11 who have lived each day over the last five years facing the grief and sadness of their loss.
With that in mind, the inscription over a monument to those who lost their lives on September 11 is as true today – five years afterwards – as it has ever been:  “Grief is the price we pay for love.” 
Please join me in a moment of silence as we remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.