At just before 8am central time on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, I was driving from the Quality Inn in Bentonville, AR to Bella Vista, AR to meet the FDIC team at a recently closed bank that my banking company had agreed to purchase. 

It was our second day, and we were trying to calm customers and introduce them to the new owners. As I approached the bank parking lot now sporting banners with our bank name on the building, I heard on NPR news at the top of the hour reports that a small plane had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The news for the day would get worse as we would all eventually learn of coordinated attacks on both the North and South Towers, the Pentagon, and a fourth attack that was stopped when a plane was heroically downed by its passengers in rural Shanksville, PA. 

Many of the nearly fifty members of the FDIC team in the bank were from Washington, D.C. As the morning progressed, they became frantic. I have never forgotten that morning, the horrors, the friend I lost as he was hosting a breakfast at Windows on the World in the North Tower, the extraordinary bravery of the first responders, the passengers aboard the doomed flights, or the raw emotion of my customers and those hardworking FDIC employees worried about their bank, their country, and their families.

Rep. Hill at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City last year.

Last fall, Martha and I toured the beautiful, solemn memorial housed in the foundation of the proud Twin Towers. I have just never been so profoundly sad. May God Bless our lost, their loved ones, those who serve in harm's way at this hour, and our great beacon of freedom, the United States of America. 

Sincerely,

Representative French Hill

After the bill passed the House, Rep Hill stated:

“Earlier this year, the Financial Services Committee uncovered settlement agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice that required defendants to direct more than $800 million to political allies of the Obama Administration. Congress holds the power of the purse, and these funds should be awarded to the victims or deposited in the Treasury and subject to the appropriations process. Today’s bill affirms Congress’s authority over these vital funds, providing transparency and accountability for the American people.”

“American diplomacy has operated from a position of strength since before the Cold War, and now for us to allow this historically aggressive regime to strong-arm us into paying a ransom is nothing short of a total failure on the part of the Obama Administration. This latest news only adds to the list of questions they need to answer about this payment. I wrote Secretary Jack Lew and Secretary John Kerry last month, seeking answers to what I believe are the most critical questions about the reports of the initial payment; unsurprisingly I received no response from the Department of Treasury or State. I am now looking forward to tomorrow’s House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing where I will once again press administration officials for answers to these important questions.”