From natural disasters to political, agricultural, scientific and technological revolutions, certain events change the course of human history. This year, we celebrate 250 years since America’s founding patriots signed the Declaration of Independence.
Since then, generations of Americans have defended the blessings of freedom and liberty, striving and sacrificing to burnish America’s standing as a beacon of hope and opportunity. We’re called to pass the baton of peace and prosperity from one generation to the next.
Some events came at great cost to American families, including in Iowa. For example, the Sullivan brothers from Waterloo enlisted in the U.S. Navy to avenge the loss of a friend killed aboard the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. All five of them ultimately lost their lives on the naval battlefield.
Six decades after the surprise military strike on Pearl Harbor killed more than 3,500 troops and civilians, the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. mainland brought terror to our shores, piercing the nation’s sense of invincibility when hijacked airplanes struck the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near the nation’s capital. A heroic revolt
This year marks the 25th anniversary since the 9/11 attacks. I’ll never forget that day. That morning after my weekly interview with Iowa radio networks, the U.S. Capitol was evacuated and officers pounded on my office door. “You gotta get out of here!” No one knew nearly 3,000 lives would be lost in that morning’s attack or that more than 8,000 people would die from post-9/11 illnesses. Now, a quarter-century later, more than one-third of the U.S. population is too young to remember the terrorist attacks. We need to carry history forward so we “Never Forget” and keep our country safe.
National security is the number one responsibility of the federal government. As a federal policymaker, I work to ensure we don’t repeat the mistakes that led to intelligence failures preceding 9/11 and that the missions of the intelligence community, U.S. military and homeland security are effectively and efficiently serving the American people. That includes securing the border and keeping people on the terror watchlist as well as other potential risks to national security out of the country.
It also requires a strong stand against Iran, which the U.S. State Department has designated a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984. During my third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, the 1979 Iranian Revolution ushered in a seismic shift in geopolitical affairs. An Iowan was among the 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Since then, chants of “Death to America” have fueled the work of terrorist groups around the world, including the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings that killed 241 U.S. service members. Thirty years ago, Iranian-backed terrorists detonated a massive truck bomb outside the Khobar Towers military housing project, killing 19 U.S. airmen in Saudi Arabia.
Iran-backed proxies have fueled global terrorism, including
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, patriotism ran high as Americans stood shoulder to shoulder in sadness and solidarity. People from across the country pitched in to help, including Iowa’s Musco Lighting. Two mobile lighting trucks left Oskaloosa that very day, heading for the Pentagon. Workers from the lighting company were on another job in Rhode Island and were on site in Lower Manhattan within hours of the attack. Musco Lighting crews spent months at Ground Zero, delivering light during one of our nation’s darkest moments. At the request of the New York Fire Department, an American flag was raised on the boom of one of its trucks as a beacon of hope and patriotism.
On this solemn 25th anniversary, let’
