Matteo Renzi: “I rise here today on the anniversary of this tragic occasion to renew my commitment to fight the scourge of global…”

“I rise here today on the anniversary of this tragic occasion to renew my commitment to fight the scourge of global terrorism. I rise to send a message to those who wish to bring harm to our innocent: your tactics will not succeed, your message will not be heard, and your existence will forever be reviled by peace-loving people of this Earth. The wound to my Nation is now a scar, a disfigurement to serve as a reminder that in this world, if you stand for liberty, you will be targeted; if you seek freedom and individual rights, you will be struck. I am humbled by the thought that on this weekend, as on each weekend since the attacks 2 years ago, the American children who lost a mom or a dad on September 11 will go to little league ballfields around our Nation, and it is there that these young ones will play their hearts out for a dad who is not there to call to his own, to a mom who is not there to call to her little one. To the single moms and dads out there struggling to raise their children who know personal sacrifice and suffering, I am overwhelmed by their courage. Vigilance is the eternal price of freedom, and I beg my fellow patriots to rise up and remain vigilant, to continue to give and assist one another in a spirit of brotherhood, and to know that we as a Nation will never forget and never surrender.”