Political Quotes

“September 11, 2001, is a date that is seared in the memories of those of us who lived through that day and experienced the trauma and the fear of that day. What has always struck me about that day and the days following, even standing here 20 years later, is how the entire free world stood united against what we saw as a common threat. It came to us as naturally as breathing. We understood that as witnesses to mass murder, we shared a duty to avenge those who had died. It may have been fear that forced us together, but in the days that followed the attacks, we, as Americans, rediscovered the ties that have bound us for centuries and solidified our faith in the common cause of freedom. But the more time that passes between each September 11 and the September 11 attacks, the more obvious it becomes that history slips away from those who fail to heed its lessons. The defensive action we took as a nation in the wake of the attacks was among the most forceful and effective the world had ever seen, but still, even 20 years later, it is obvious that our work in Afghanistan and the Middle East is far from over. My colleague from Maine talked about the withdrawal from Afghanistan. I would say, as I talk to Tennesseans, it is not withdrawing from Afghanistan; it was the manner in which the Biden administration chose to end the military mission in Afghanistan that didn't seem to reflect the reality of what was going on on the ground.…”