The dastardly and near unthinkable terrorist attacks of September 11^th altered much more than the landscape of New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.  Thousands of families were thrust into bereavement.  Millions of households had their livelihoods thrown into tailspins.  And untold numbers of Americans are feeling the twang of helplessness. 

It seems as if everybody is searching for ways to be helpful.   Thousands are giving blood.  Tens of thousands are volunteering their time.  Millions are sending money.  Many groups and organizations cancelled their meetings and conventions to demonstrate their heartfelt sympathy for those more directly touched by this tragedy. 

Before and throughout the Congressional Black Caucus' Annual Legislative Conference, I agonized over whether or not we were doing the right thing by going forward with our 2001 conference.  Although, I was one of those who argued strongly against canceling, as in many situations in life, I still was not sure.

I felt better about the decision when I convened my Energy Issue Forum on Thursday at noon and saw such great attendance.   We were favored with some of the most outstanding presentations I have ever experienced in my life.  All four presenters were every bit the professionals we had expected them to be.  The attendees were as inquisitive as we had hoped, and their questions and comments during the session and afterwards made me feel good about our decision.  But I still wondered. 

On Friday at 9:15 a.m., I convened my Environmental Justice Brainthrust.  During this session the National Environmental Justice Commission, which I formed pursuant to recommendations, which grew out of last year's Brainthrust, released two Reports.  Two panels of four presenters each discussed those reports that were compiled from the five Listening Sessions we held over the past year.  Their presentations were followed by a very lively and informative question and answer session.  But I remained conflicted.

I do not know whether or not it was because of the national spirit or some other intervening force but everybody with whom I spoke thought the Friday night Gospel Extravaganza was our best one ever.  And the spirit of the evening was carried over into our national Prayer Breakfast on Saturday morning. 

The Saturday night Awards Banquet honored six outstanding Americans who have had great national and international impact on our times.  All of their acceptance remarks were cogent and appropriate. And former President Bill Clinton's were downright awesome.  I left the Banquet hall feeling more convinced than ever that we had done the right thing but still wondered.

On Sunday morning as I continued to reflect on the Conference and the confliction I was experiencing, one of my colleagues, Julia Carson, from Indiana, approached me during breakfast.  She shared with me a conversation she had earlier with one of the servers, a lady with whom I later spoke. 

She thanked us for not canceling the Conference.  She indicated that she was trying to care for four young children and expected to be laid off "next week."  But said that she was thankful we did not cancel the Conference because if we had she would have been laid off "last week."  She informed us that we might be surprised at the number of people our decision to go forward touched in a meaningful way even if for only two or three weeks.  Later I heard similar emotions expressed by taxi and limousine drivers, bellmen and clerks.

Those conversations removed all doubts.  I am convinced that going forward was the right thing to do.

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