A lot of the stereotypes went away after Sept. 11 of us being rude and unwelcoming. For the first time, our police officers and our firefighters were a tourist attraction.
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We were estimating about $700,000, so we're quite a bit over what we thought we were going to get. We all know what happened to the tourism industry after Sept. 11. Since then, we've been building up again. Now we're almost at pre-Sept. 11 levels.
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Throughout our history in times of testing, Americans have come together in prayer to heal and ask for strength for the tasks ahead, ... So I've declared Friday, Sept. the 16th, as a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance. I ask that we pray - as Americans have always prayed in times of trial - with confidence in His purpose, with hope for a brighter future, and with the humility to ask God to keep us strong so that we can better serve our brothers and sisters in need.
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I share the ambassador's hope, ... But I don't expect to see it in my lifetime. I don' think we'll go back to Sept. 10. I think the world changed in an irrevocable way; it's unfortunate but that's what we live with.
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