September 11, 2011

Mayor Bloomberg and Sen. Inouye visited the 9/11 Memorial for which Inouye has introduced annual funding for the museum.
Photo from 9/11 Memorial

TODAY IS THE DAY TO REMEMBER the tragedy of 9/11 and the sense of unity between neighbors that followed. Here are the words read into the Congressional Record, penned by Hawai`i’s Sen. Daniel Inouye. 

     “On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people who would lose their lives in the most horrific attack on America since the bombing of Pearl Harbor began their day like it was any other. Many got dressed and headed for work. Others packed their bags and went to the airport. All would leave their loved ones that morning believing they would be home soon to continue the lives they worked so hard to create. Instead, these innocents were murdered by terrorists at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
     “This despicable act forever changed our great nation and the world. Families were shattered, a war began, and the relative peace and security we enjoyed was ripped away.”
     The senator said he recently visited Lower Manhattan. He wrote: “Although the rubble has been cleared and great structures are rising from the earth, there is a solemn air that permeates the place. Despite the bustling crews and the towering cranes stacking metal and shaping the new towers,” observed Inouye, “it is still the spot where husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers died in fiery fashion.”
      Said Inouye, “Being there reminded me of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the formative years that followed.” The senator was a boy of 17 when he heard the announcer shout over the radio that “Japanese planes were attacking Pearl Harbor. I remember running outside with my father to see the bright red suns painted on the wings of the Zeroes as they raced toward their target amid black puffs of anti-aircraft fire,” he recalled.

Waterfalls pour into the sites at the World Trade Center where the towers once stood.
Photo from 9/11 Memorial

“I knew at that moment that my country and my life would never be the same. Six decades later that moment came again when I watched passenger jets crash into the side of the World Trade Center. 

 Recalled Inouye: “After Pearl Harbor I put on the uniform and went off to fight for this country as did thousands of my brave brothers from the Greatest Generation. Our nation was shocked into action by the events of Dec. 7, 1941 and a generation of Americans fought and died to shape the new world that came after the bombs fell.
     “America was awakened in similar fashion on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 and ten years later we are still fighting and dying to create a future better than the one we lost that day,” the senator wrote.
     To honor Sept. 11 victims and heroes, foot prints of the fallen towers, sit side by side. The names of the fallen are engraved in panels that form a railing around each pool.
     “It is a fitting memorial for those who died but we must honor their memory by telling their story and educating the world about what happened on Sept. 11, 2001,” wrote Inouye.
     “Yes, it was America that was attacked, but the world changed forever that day and this memorial and museum is much more than a collection of artifacts, it is a symbol of America reborn and a reminder that the world order is always changing.”
     To support this effort, Inouye has introduced a bill to allow the United States, through the Secretary of the Interior, to take ownership of the lands, the Memorial and the Museum. 

The faces of heroes and victims of the attack on the World Trade Center.
Photo from 9/11 Memorial

     The Department of the Interior will enter into a cooperative agreement with the Board of the non-profit National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, Inc., which may provide technical and financial assistance to the Memorial and Museum relating to its operations and maintenance.
     The legislation would authorize appropriations of $20 million in FY 2013, the first full fiscal year after which the Museum is scheduled to open to the public, and in subsequent years. All funds appropriated will be matched by non-federal sources like admission fees, gifts and fundraising, leaving the federal share being about 33 percent or less of the overall budget of the Memorial and Museum.
     New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo thanked Inouye for leadership in securing the future of the memorial. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, 
“The 9/11 Memorial is for our city, the nation, and the world. Sen. Inouye’s legislation is an important part of securing the legacy of 9/11.”

THE SPLITTING OF KA`U into two House Districts will be one of the issues at public hearings this week. The state Reapportionment Commission holds the first hearing on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the County Council chambers in Hilo and on Wednesday at the council chambers at West Hawai`i Civic Center in Kona, also at 5 p.m. The major issue for Ka`u is that one of the House of Representatives redistricting maps shows people living from Na`alehu through Ocean View voting with everyone in Kona, all the way up to the condominiums at Kahalu`u beach. People living in Pahala would vote with everyone living in Volcano and deep into Puna. 

Ka`u would be split in two and Herkes would no longer represent
Na`alehu to Ocean View and South Kona.

A petition is being circulated urging the commission to keep Ka`u in one district. Ocean View resident and former Ka`u Chamber of Commerce President Rel Woodward pointed to the work of Rep. Bob Herkes, who has championed the Ocean View potable water well development and the mobile health clinic. Herkes would no longer represent Ocean View, Wai`ohinu, Discovery Harbour, Green Sands, Kalae and Na`alehu under the proposed redistriciting map.      Herkes has also been a champion, along with Sen. Gil Kahele, of the South Kona Wilderness Area, which passed the legislature last session. Herkes would no longer represent this area, and the nearby beach communities, including Miloli`i. 

     Another point of contention is that the state commission, based on O`ahu, has decided to include the non-resident military population in counting the number of people to be included in each district. This skews the population heavily for O`ahu and means that the Big Island, which is the fastest growing island in the state, would most likely not receive a fourth state senator, which it would be entitled to, if those stationed in Hawai`i in the military were not counted. The 2010 census count showed that this county grew 24.5 percent in the last decade. The proposed redistricting maps can be viewed at hawaii.gov/elections/reapportionment/ and at public libraries, according to the redistricting commission.