Good afternoon and thank you all for being here today for this great nation and the courage and bravery of even its greater people. And thank you for participating in this National Day of Prayer and Remembrance.

Upon completing a tour of America in 1830, a French aristocrat named Alexis de Touquville observed that “America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good it shall cease to be great.”

This week thousands of Americans showed their greatness and goodness, sacrificing their lives showing that America remains great because of its people.

Some fighting off terrorists in one of the highjacked planes to save others’ lives. Police and Firefighters rushing into burning chaos and down streets blinded with debris to save their fellow man while risking and losing their own lives. That’s what they do in New York, Washington D.C. or in Stockton.

Those brave men and women - today’s new heroes - are of all races, all faiths, and above all, all Americans. President Bush stated, “A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”

As you, the great citizens of this community, and I gather here to pray and unite in the support of our great land, the President and Congress, we should - we must - pause to think of all those past and most recent that have stood and sacrificed for the beliefs that define America.

It may appear to some that this giant of freedom - the United States of America, was asleep. And sometimes we do sleep in the peace of knowing that we will answer to a higher authority for our time here. But this Tuesday the giant was awakened, and the resolve, love and determination for the freedoms that we live and die for will once again galvanize us against any hate.

You see standing up here with me today Americans - just like each of you - full of love for our nation’s promise of freedom. Those with me today, as many of you have, have offered their support for the victims and the condemnation of the evil of Tuesday’s events.

We are all here as the people of this, the greatest nation, and I ask that you - right now - take just a moment before we pray together and turn and look around you and acknowledge those fellow Americans that have joined us and offer them a greeting of peace and unity.

Let us commit that difference must be a reason to love, not an excuse to hate. And unite in support of our nation and condemnation of the hate that did so underestimate the enormous strength of this republic when threatened.

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