War on Terror

One month after the September 11 attacks, I traveled to Ground Zero in New York City.  Even the most vivid pictures couldn't prepare me for what I saw at the scene. Seeing it first-hand reinforced the magnitude of what had happened. This truly was the most colossal attack on American soil in history. 

As difficult as it was to see the wreckage there and at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., I believe it served to reinforce even further our nation's determination to make a forceful statement against terrorism. Not just for the innocent men and women who died that day, but for everyone who values freedom, security, and the American way of life.  That fight continues today.

I think we have to understand that this is a war that won't end quickly or quietly.  We're engaged against an enemy that hates everything about us from our way of life to our love of liberty and our willingness to foster democracy wherever it emerges.  As a nation we believe in religious tolerance and equality for all people.  Unfortunately these are concepts that the terrorists who attacked the United States can't abide by.

As a nation, we must undertake the steps necessary to so all we can and with God's help to ensure that our nation is never attacked again as it was on September 11, 2001.  

There are several things we can do I believe in using the judicial system to prosecute terrorists captured in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism.  Justice delayed is justice denied. Terrorists who attack our country need to be brought to trial by U.S. courts.

We must continue to strengthen our borders and ensure that the people crossing them are doing so in a legal manner and without intent to harm our nation.  We must maximize our intelligence resources to ensure that we're not caught unaware in the future. 

Important Legislation

H.R. 6166, the Military Commissions Act of 2006:  This legislation passed the House by a vote of 253-168 during the 109^th Congress but failed to pass in the Senate.  The legislation would have created a new judicial system to prosecute terrorists captured in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism, while also protecting American troops and intelligence agents fighting terrorists.  It would further guarantee that mechanisms are in place to bring terrorists to justice when they attack our citizens or our nation. The Military Commissions Act establishes the procedures, rules and legal framework that are appropriate for the new battlefield created by the ongoing war on terrorism.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Terrorists who attack our country need to be brought to trial by U.S. courts and this process would have done just that.