Political Quotes

“On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, a dark cloak of terrorism fell across the United States with the brutal and heinous attacks on our country. The Nation watched in horror as events unfolded and Americans faced the harsh reality of terror right on our own doorstep. In the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, thousands of people lie in the rubble. In the still smouldering center of our national defense headquarters, many are still unaccounted for. Our hearts and prayers go out to those victims and their families. The surest consolation for those left behind, and indeed for all of us, can be found in the confident knowledge that the blessings of this Nation, life, liberty, and freedom, will endure. One of our most treasured symbols of freedom is the Statue of Liberty. Inscribed in the pedestal are these words of hope, written in a different era, but which are appropriate today. They are taken from President Franklin Roosevelt's State of the Union message less than 1 month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor: 'Liberty is the air America breathes. In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear.' Mr. Speaker, Americans today yearn to be free of fear, to believe these terrorist attacks were an isolated incident which will not happen again. Yet we have no such guarantee.”