Congressman tours New York crash site

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- Rep. Chris Cox (R-Newport Beach) witnessed the

horrible results of the Sept. 11 attacks on Monday by touring the

still-smoldering ashes of the World Trade Center.

Cox joined a delegation of 109 federal lawmakers on a tour of the

wreckage led by New York Gov. George Pataki.

“The devastation that we saw today is all the more depressing and

extraordinary because even three weeks after the attack, the fires still

burn and the temperatures are in excess of 1,000 degrees,” Cox said.

The Newport Beach congressman relayed the details of his trip to the

scene via cell phone as he rode a train back to Washington, D.C.

Cox joined House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), House Minority

Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) and other leaders. Rep. Dana

Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), who also represents Costa Mesa, was

traveling in Europe and did not attend.

Rescue workers continue to haul debris out of lower Manhattan. As of

Monday, more than 150,000 tons of twisted steel and other debris had been

hauled, Cox said.

“Visiting the site, one would never know it,” Cox said. “It looks to

be an enormous task.”

At least 6,000 people have been killed or are still missing as a

result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In the ongoing attempt to

locate people still missing, investigators continue to ask families to

bring in toothbrushes, combs and other items that could contain DNA.

The DNA is then compared with the more than 5,000 body parts that have

been recovered from the crash site. That way, grieving family members can

be given “something to bury,” Cox said. Families are also being given

handfuls of dirt from the site.

“That is the kind of grisly work now underway,” Cox said.

Pataki thanked the congressional leaders, as he led them through the

crash site, for the federal aid approved shortly after the attacks.

* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .