Washington, DC – Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today spoke about the upcoming 10-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.  Below are excerpts from his remarks.

On September 11, 2001:

“It’s one of the pivotal moments in history where people remember who they were with and exactly what they were doing.  As it was, on September 11, 2001, I had had breakfast with another Congressman at the Pentagon that very morning, with Secretary Rumsfeld, and the meeting ended about nine o’clock.  As I left the Pentagon a guard told me a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  So, I got into my car; I just heard then that there was a second hit to the other tower.  And, I drove from the Pentagon to the Capitol not realizing that an attack was underway on Washington, D.C.… so, I was driving from one target to the other, thinking at the time that this was a terrorist attack on New York City.  It is a memory that is seared into my memory as it is most Americans.”

On how America has changed since the al Qaeda attacks:

“Americans immediately rallied.  A sense of patriotism, I think, swelled throughout the United States.  And, we’ve been through many changes, but the main lesson is that we showed our resolve.  We’ve never cowered in the face of extremism, or aggression, and certainly we can be proud of what Americans did after 9/11.”

On what can be learned:

“I think the main lesson is the war against global terror is not over. Indeed, it will never be over, as long as the United States stands as a symbol of freedom and openness and democracy and prosperity. There will always be people who are jealous of us, who don’t understand our way of life, don’t understand our freedoms, and the different ways that Americans express themselves. And so, we can never let up. It is indeed eternal vigilance, we’ve always practiced that. But we need to realize, and I think the majority of Americans do realize, that the struggle is never complete when you’re fighting against people who would end our way of life and when you’re fighting for American security.”

Audio of Wicker’s statement can be found here.

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