Lungren Issues 9/11 remembrance statement

The 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks should be a day for solemn remembrance, fitting tributes, and continual vigilance. 
On this 9/11, I will be watching the sky: not in anxious searching or earnest prayer like many of us were 10 years ago, but in proud excitement at the annual air show at Mather.  Our planes fly again, our flag waves again, and we move forward one step at a time.
We took a step forward when we fought the Taliban in Afghanistan, when we disrupted the communications and finances of the al-Qaeda network, and when we identified our vulnerabilities and fortified our nation against future threats.  The steps at times have been slow – as with the ongoing war in Afghanistan; fraught with controversy – as with the screening procedures at our airports; labored – as with the diligent behind-the-scenes work of our intelligence communities; and not always successful – as with the failure to stop the attack by Major Nidal Hasan on Fort Hood.  But these steps have taken us through 10 years without another terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11. 
This year we achieved a significant step forward with the death of bin Laden.  Evil cannot be allowed to elude justice forever.  We must remain vigilant and, with both confidence and humility, remember that 9/11 is not his story to own and dominate.  He and his followers hijacked our planes, but not our unity.  They destroyed our buildings, but not our values.  They killed our citizens, but not our future.  And they have answered for it.
9/11 is not his story.  Rather, it is the story of the firefighters who worked to remove the rubble in the hopeful but sometimes disappointing search for survivors.  It is the story of those who acted on behalf of their fellow citizens to wrest Flight 93 from the control of the hijackers, saving untold lives of those on the ground but losing their own in an otherwise unremarkable field in Pennsylvania.  It is the story of our men and women in uniform – in the military and our law enforcement agencies – as well as our intelligence community members who protect us every day.  It is the story of the survivors who have gone on living to raise their kids in the aching absence of their mother or father.  It is the story of everyone who lost a loved one that day but still lives and laughs and loves.  Remember their stories as you remember your own.
In a National Geographic interview that aired last week, former President Bush said, “Eventually, September the 11th will be a day on the calendar; it’ll be like Pearl Harbor Day.  For those of us who lived through it, it’ll be a day that we’ll never forget.”
Never forget.  Never. Never. Never. 
God bless the victims and their families.
Sincerely,
Daniel E. Lungren
Member of Congress