Charles Norwood: “I support this resolution to condemn these terrorists. Our hearts are broken for the loss of life. We must condemn this…”

“I support this resolution to condemn these terrorists. Our hearts are broken for the loss of life. We must condemn this act. We have to treat our wounded. We pray for the mortal souls of the victims, for peace and grace of the family members, and we will mourn, and we will bury our dead. Then what? These attacks have likely cost more American lives than we lost at Pearl Harbor, and in a far more cowardly manner. War has been declared on America. Now what? Do we capitulate and wait for the next terrorist attack? Do we wait for another attack on our freedom and American lives? Do we really think we can deter these barbaric acts or really prevent them? Is preventing 9 out of 10 terrorist attacks going to be enough, or do we fight back and make the price they pay for evil so high they will never again wish to attack America? They have recognized that we have a justified reluctance in waging war while still having difficulty identifying specific nations or even groups of targets, or, for that matter, even determining who to name in a declaration of war. Mr. Speaker, I urge approval of a declaration of war, granting our commander in chief his constitutional ability to prosecute a total war, not unlike maybe the 7th Congress had to deal with with President Thomas Jefferson in his fight against the terrorism of the Barbary pirates. Mr. Speaker, we have been attacked. We are at war, and we just lost a battle.”