9-11. Praise is due for the President, our intelligence agencies, our military and a host of others who have helped make the seven years since 9-11 safe years for most Americans.
Still, by the estimates of those closest to the fight, luck has played a strong part in our success. There has been simply too much information to process and too many gaps in our safety screen for us to assume seamless protection from those who wish us harm.
Vulnerabilities remain on our southern border. Any barrier that can be crossed by hundreds of people a day and that serves as a conduit to billions in illicit drugs is not authentic.
As a country, we continue to struggle with the importance of protecting our liberties as surely as our physical safety. The equation of success that upholds both responsibilities is illusive and deserving of the vigilance of all who value the heart and soul of America.
Terror comes in many guises. A life can be ended as surely by a dealer with a beckoning crack pipe as a trained terrorist with a bomb. Hunger, poverty, cold, and despair can come as certainly from an undermined economy as a war. Voices that press us to ignore the Constitution, our historical values, and the American Success Equation of liberty, opportunity, and responsibility hold more power to destroy our future than any army on earth.
There is value in ceremony. Yet perhaps we most honestly honor 9-11 by realizing that we are still in a fight for America, and that each of us has a part in the battle. It may be as a public safety officer standing between those you protect and potential harms. It might be as a soldier denying a place of rest for those behind 9-11. Most often it will be as an everyday person resisting wrongs, struggling to remain spiritually grounded in a fallen world, or simply finding the courage to write a letter to the editor defending truth.
A note of thanks is due to every American who takes the time today to remember 9-11. An even brighter star is reserved for those whose actions make the strongest statement, "We remember - we carry on for you - we will not surrender - to anything or anyone who would dim America's light."
11th District Republican Congressional Candidate
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