Washington, DC
September 9, 2002

One year has gone down since 9/11 when the twin towers went down, United Flight #93 went down in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon was hit in Washington.

We still have grief; we still have anger. It really hasn't all sunk in yet because there is no closure.

With Pearl Harbor there was closure. We knew who did it. And when President Harry S. Truman ordered our men to drop the atomic bomb on the Japanese, World War II ended.

With the birth of a baby we know that there will be death. There is a birth and years of life if all goes well and there will be a funeral. There will be closure.

What is so disturbing and maddening to many of us is that so many people died in New York like a vapor in air; they disappeared, were never found. There were no remains, no body, no funeral, no closure.

Doctors, ministers of faith, and psychiatrists tell us that funerals are needed and that closure is most important so that we have an opportunity to grieve, heal our wounds and go on living.

In New York, wonderful, beautiful innocent people went like a vapor in thin air. Once in Hiroshima with mayors we saw the signs and proof of the same phenomena when innocent Japanese women and children were vaporized when our ball of fire was released over that city. In the museum we saw stains on concrete doorsteps where a woman's body had been vaporized into the concrete, never to be seen again. No closure. No funeral. Just gone - like a vapor in thin air.

We lost 6,500 Americans at Antietam. It was the bloodiest day in American history when 100,000 Americans were trying to kill other Americans on that September day in 1862. But there were bodies, 6,500 of them. The Confederate dead covered the road from the winding ditch known as Bloody Lane and survivors walked over the dead and never touched the ground. But the bodies were sent home and there were funerals. There was closure.

But in New York, as in Hiroshima when there is no body, when vaporization occurs, the closure is more difficult. And so it will take more than a year to fully understand to those who lost their loved ones in this unnatural way, they will never get over it.

While Americans are usually reluctant to go to war, there is a strong feeling to support President George W. Bush as he leads us forward. A challenge for many is to understand who the enemy is. Is it Bin Laden? Is it Saddam Hussein? Whoever it is, we want him - "dead or alive" as President Bush said right after 9/11 last year.

This summer three or four stories run a week about our plans to take Saddam Hussein out, to invade Iraq. President Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush was wise to take the question of the Gulf War to the Senate for discussion. There used to be the thought that there is an element of surprise in attacks and invasions. But with CNN and the televison it's a different world today. We rely so much on the televison. And since there has been so much information already purposely leaked from the White House, Congress, and the Defense Department, certainly it would not hurt for the Senate to openly and in closed sessions debate and discuss the question of invading Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein once and for all. It's reassuring this week when President Bush has said he will consult with Congress before he gives the order to go get him.

Most Americans want Saddam removed. Many wish that we had taken him out in the last go around, the Gulf War. But the question is, after you take him out, we have to ask where is Bin Laden? It's like the nursery rhyme - "Who killed Cock Robin?" Who killed over 3,000 Americans in New York, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon? Most of us believe and have been told that Bin Laden did it. So after we take Saddam out, many will ask, what about Bin Laden? We want him dead or alive. We want closure. That's the way Americans are. We haven't forgotten about Bin Laden. We will never forget what Bin Laden did. We want closure.

Mayors/Homeland Security/Post 9/11

While there is grief, compassion and anger, mayors since 9/11 have picked themselves up and gone forward, as mayors do, with their police and emergency personnel to do what needs to be done with readiness and protection for a year. A lot of money has been spent at the local level in the cities of America. A lot of money has been promised from Washington - and yet none of the tax money we have sent to Washington has come back to our local police departments. We continue to go further in the hole as Washington argues about this or that aspect of how the Homeland Security Department is to be organized.

From day one, the nation's mayors have called for a directly-funded block grant to our cities for our police department. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York has championed our cause and she has not given up. She will continue and we will continue to make the point that we have "troops" in cites and counties and they are now involved in a national effort, a war against international terrorism. Washington needs to quit squabbling and act now to provide our police departments with national funds for this national effort.

Johannesburg - World Summit on Sustainable Development

We had a strong presence at the World Summit on sustainable Communities in Johannesburg, Africa. Hempstead Mayor James Garner, Vice President of The United States Conference of Mayors, has worked hard in making the rounds in meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell, EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair as well as other mayors from around the globe. Mayor Garner serves as an official delegate appointed by President Bush for the Summit. Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown was appointed by Conference President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino to lead our delegation which included Burlington Mayor Pete Clavelle. Both Mayor Brown and Clavelle have been involved in this international environmental movement which began in Rio ten years ago. Congratulations and thanks to our USA Mayors for a job well done. Mayor Garner and his delegation will report to you in Santa Barbara later this month at our Leadership Meeting.

Santa Barbara Leadership Meeting/September 19-21

Conference President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino convenes our Leadership in Santa Barbara to review our priorities and to develop our strategy as we come to Washington on September 26th for Mayors Lobby Day. Our response in attendance for Santa Barbara and the Washington Lobby Day activities is excellent.

Cleveland October 8 - Public Schools

As announced earlier, Conference President Menino convenes a Mayors and Public Schools Meeting in Cleveland on October 8th. Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell will host mayors for our continuing dialogue on mayors and public schools. The Eli Broad Foundation has been very helpful with our effort and we are most pleased that Mr. Eli Broad, Founder of the Broad Foundation will be with mayors in Cleveland.

Travel and Tourism National Forum - Atlanta, October 16-17

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will host our first National Forum on Travel and Tourism in Atlanta on October 16-17. Our partners for this historic - first ever - meeting are the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (IACVB) and the Travel Business Round Table (TBR). Mr. Jonathan Tisch, President of the TBR will be with us along with CEO's and representatives of the travel and tourism industry. We have been working very closely also with the IACVB to bring the local Convention and Tourism Bureau executives into our discussion. Mr. Michael Gehrisch CEO, of IACVB will be with us along with his officers and leaders from around the nation. We will leave Atlanta with a bipartisan political action strategy to continue to emphasize how important the travel and tourism industry is to the economic security of the nation. We need you and your conventions- and visitors- directors in Atlanta. Please contact me at 202.293.2354 or Tom McClimon at 202.861.6729 to confirm your attendance.

9/11 Activities

As sad as it is, we thank all of you for the tremendous response you have given to our database as to what you and your city is doing on this one-year anniversary of September 11th. This information is now on our website, usmayors.org. The media has already drawn much of the information down from our website which tells a national story of how USA mayors and cities are commemorating and remembering those who died and those who still suffer from the tragic loss of September 11, 2002. You are to be congratulated as you honor our fallen. God Bless America and God Bless you mayors and the cities and people you serve.