John,

Like many Americans, I remember the morning of September 11, 2001 vividly. I had arrived early at the Federal Building in Syracuse where I was working as a prosecutor, and went down to the office's cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee. There, I watched on TV as fires began to rage at the World Trade Center's north tower.

Then, a second plane appeared out of the sky and hit the south tower.

I knew right away our nation was under attack.

Today, as we mark 20 years since the horrific events of 9/11, we must renew our resolve to NEVER FORGET.

On this special Patriot Day, we remember the nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost and honor the heroism of our first responders. We also honor the service men and women who have put their lives on the line in the two decades since to defend our nation. Thousands have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom and our democracy.

And we pray for solace for the loved ones of all those we’ve lost.

In the wake of 9/11, the House Homeland Security Committee was formed. Today, I serve as the committee’s ranking Republican, and I am raising the alarm on the very real threats we face.

We cannot allow the lessons learned from the attack on 9/11 to become a relic of the past, or we risk making some of the same mistakes that led to the intelligence and information failures that prevented us from stopping this disaster. I have serious concerns that our adversaries will now use Afghanistan to encourage and perhaps even clandestinely fund terrorist activity against us.

We must always remember what happened on 9/11. Let the lessons we learned unite us as a nation to remain ever vigilant.

- John