Mr. McCaul of Texas- {Mr. McCAUL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, five years ago this week, our generation was defined by the heroic actions of hundreds of first responders, brave Americans and innocent victims who gave their lives on September 11, 2001. That day, 19 Al Qaeda hijackers murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people. Those terrorists had a simple cause: inflict the highest loss of life and the most damage they could to our nation. They may have succeeded in murdering thousands of people going about their daily lives, but they failed miserably to defeat the patriotic spirit of America and of freedom everywhere.

In the days, weeks and months following the tragic events of September 11th, we saw the patriotic spirit of every American emerge and rally in support of repair and recovery. We saw a nation unified in finding the perpetrators of these crimes and bringing them to justice, and we saw the free world awakened to the possibility of terrorist attacks anywhere and at any time. Simply, 9/11 changed our nation and the world forever.

Not only did these terrorists steal the lives of thousands, but they opened our eyes to our false sense of security. Like someone who has been robbed at home by a vicious criminal, we must now lock our doors and windows at all times to make sure that those who mean us harm are not allowed to break in.

That being said, I believe that we are safer at home today than we were 5 years ago, but we are still not safe. Our borders are more secure, our intelligence services are more robust and now work closely together, and our armed services have routed out the terrorists in their homes and brought them to justice. But we are still at war. We cannot afford to stand idly by while terrorists operate in this or any country around the world, because we cannot afford another 9/11. Never again can this happen. We owe it to the American people who depend on us to provide a safe and secure homeland, and we owe it to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who throughout history have died defending the democracy and freedom we enjoy today. Most of all we owe it to the thousands of innocent victims who died 5 years ago.

We have been battling terrorism for a long time, but September 11th was the day our enemies woke the sleeping giant. Since then, we have seen success in the Global War on Terror and captured some of the world's most dangerous terrorists. We have also made great strides to cripple the organizations and countries that support them. However, we are still faced with an evil enemy who is supported by a rogue nation that's determined to develop nuclear weapons and use them on their enemies. Allowing a nation like Iran, who sponsors terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, to possess nuclear weapons would be a dishonor to those who died on 9/11 and an insult to those who continue to defend America's freedom.

We promised to help make the world a safer place, free from the threat of terrorism at the hands of mad men. Keeping that promise means preventing terrorists and their supporters from getting weapons of mass destruction. Let's remember those who gave their lives on 9/11 by keeping our promise.

When we remember the events of 9/11, we remember not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. We must remember the police officers and firefighters that responded to the attacks on the WorId Trade Center and the Pentagon who went in to save lives, but gave their lives in the process. We remember the first responders from every corner of our nation who came to ground zero in the days after to lend their strength, skills and support. And we must remember the innocent people--the husbands and wives, the parents and children and the entire families who were torn apart the day the towers fell.

We must always remember. That is our duty as Americans--that is our charge as patriots.