Five years ago, our nation experienced one of its darkest days and finest hours. With shocking suddenness, an act of unparalleled cruelty transformed a late-summer morning of uncommon brilliance into one of unimagined horror. On that awful morning, September 11th was transformed from a mere point on the calendar into an eternal monument to the deepest human emotions of loss, of sacrifice, and of resolve.
We pause today to remember those whose lives were taken that terrible morning – 2,996 innocent men, women, and children, workers doing their jobs, travelers embarking on trips. Men and women like Robert and Jacqueline Norton of Lubec, who boarded Flight 11 to celebrate a son’s wedding in California. In the days just before the trip, the Nortons planted new raspberry bushes in their garden and Robert, at age 85, helped repair the concrete steps at their church.
The Pentagon that morning was filled with men and women who had dedicated their lives to serving their country. Among them was Commander Robert Allan Schlegel. After his 1981 graduation from Gray-New Gloucester High School, he went to college, he married his high-school sweetheart, Dawn, and he followed a tradition set by his father and two brothers by joining the United States Navy. His fifteen-year Naval career was one of achievement and courage; among his many commendations were the Meritorious Service Medal, four Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and the Purple Heart. Shortly before September 11th, he had been promoted to the rank of Commander. His new office, on the second floor of the Pentagon, was believed to be the point of impact of Flight 77.
Each of these names, and the names of so many more, represent lives of accomplishment, contribution, and promise. Each loss leaves a wound in the hearts of families and friends that can never be fully healed.
But September 11th was not just a day of personal tragedy. It was an attack on the United States, an attack on freedom, an attack on civilization. As we pledge to never forget what was lost and what was given on September 11th, we must in the same breath pledge to do all that we can to prevent future attacks. We can offer no such guarantee, but it must be our goal.
The fundamental obligation of government is to protect its people. Since September 11th, we have done much to meet that obligation. Immediately after the attacks, we passed legislation to close the gap between law enforcement and intelligence that the terrorists exploited. We created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide a unifying core to the vast effort of detecting and preventing terrorist attacks, assessing and protecting our vulnerabilities, and improving our response to disasters, a goal that has not yet been fully realized.
We passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which Senator Joe Lieberman and I authored, that brought about the most comprehensive restructuring our intelligence community in more than a half century so that the trail of “dots” terrorists leave behind as they plan, train, and organize will never again be left unconnected. These efforts have resulted in the uncovering of terrorist plots, cells, and financing operations, and played an important role in thwarting the scheme to blow up transatlantic airliners that was exposed in Britain last month.
Despite this progress, five years after 9/11, much more work remains in our effort to secure America. Possibly our greatest challenge is to recognize that the dangers presented by terrorism constantly evolve. As the recent arrests in Canada and Miami, the attacks on the London subway of a year ago, and the foiled airliner plot in Britain have made clear, terrorism masterminds no longer rely upon operatives imported from abroad to infiltrate target nations and to carry out an attack. The emerging threat is from “home-grown” terrorists.
It does not take a stretch of the imagination to see that an attack could come from within just as easily - perhaps even more easily - than from abroad. From John Walker Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban”, we already know that the most extreme ideology can take root even among those who enjoy the most privileged circumstances our society can offer. As the details of the British airliner plot emerge, it becomes evident that “home-grown” terrorists, working in conjunction with masterminds overseas, can be every bit as sophisticated as the imported terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.
This is the reality that we must confront. We must not allow our imagination to fail us again.
Five years ago, in what seemed like a moment, September 11th was transformed from a day like any other day into one that, for as long as we live, will be seared in our minds. The loss we relive this day reminds us of the value of all that we must protect. The heroism reminds us of the unconquerable spirit of the American people. Our accomplishments remind us that we can meet any challenge.