By US Congressman Kevin Brady
This September 11th is the thirteenth anniversary of the deadliest attack on U.S. soil. As Americans we can never treat 9/11 as just another day.
During the past weeks I’ve crisscrossed my congressional district holding town halls on factory floors, in local restaurants and community centers, at universities and company conference rooms.
Repeatedly I heard my constituents tell me how worried they are for America’s safety. The world seems to be taking a terrible turn and we are once again reminded that extreme jihadists are determined to destroy Americans and our way of life.
Letting our guard down, hollowing out America’s military might and intelligence network, and ignoring terror threats across the globe in hopes they will simply go away is not an option as we remember 9/11 this year.
Our nation cannot afford to lose its will to win this war on terror. The terrorists certainly haven’t.
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As we remember the nearly 3,000 mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters killed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the now-sacred field in Pennsylvania, take a moment to remind our young children of their sacrifice.
For adults the memories will never fade, but for even young teenagers today 9/11 is as distant a memory as Pearl Harbor.
It’s important they understand the impact on America, the remarkable pain and suffering of those who lost loved ones that day, and of the heroism in the days and years following by our military and intelligence men and women who have fought successfully to ensure America would not experience yet another terror attack on our soil.
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Thanks to our brave men and women in uniform, al Qaeda’s threat is diminished but more vicious jihadists have filled the void.
ISIS has vowed to “drown America in its own blood” and they reportedly have the financing and military expertise to achieve it.
Al Qaeda needed less than half a million dollars to launch its successful attack on the U.S. According to noted journalist Bob Woodward, ISIS — the terror group that gleefully beheaded American journalist James Foley — now has more financial and logistical resources than al Qaeda did. They are a force to be reckoned with.
That should be a wakeup call for our Commander-in-Chief and those in Washington who naively wish the world to be magically safer.
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As Americans know all too well, terrorists will use memorable anniversaries for maximum impact.
This is why I have repeatedly refused to accept half answers about what happened at our embassy compound in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.
I was an early sponsor of the legislation that successfully created the House Select Committee to investigate the tragic deaths of our ambassador and three other brave Americans. I’m pleased that a recently retired Army JAG officer with 33 years of military prosecution experience has agreed to be chief counsel for this important investigation.
The American people need and deserve to know the truth so that everything possible is done to secure American outposts and protect U.S. representatives on the anniversary of 9/11.
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At our town halls this month I heard repeatedly how disappointed people are that the Senate and President Obama have simply ignored the crisis on the border.
They appreciate that we in the House already acted to pass a solution that secures the border, deters Central American parents from sending their children on this dangerous journey, safely holds these unaccompanied kids at the border and promptly reunites them with their family in their home country.
My constituents have a simple question: When is the do-nothing Senate going to act?
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U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady is the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and a senior member of the House Ways & Means Committee, where he chairs the Health Subcommittee.
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