Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I rise to honor those who lost their lives tragically 18 years ago and to make sure that we never forget what happened then.

I vividly remember that morning. I was in my own office in Jasper, IN. I didn't have a TV. Somebody there brought it up on the internet. The second plane flew into the building. I will never forget that image because we didn't know what had happened with the first one. We knew what had happened with the second.

Over the summer break, Senator Rick Scott and I took a trip to Israel and saw all of that which goes into its preparedness against the evil that lurks around the world. I saw it again up close, and it always makes me wonder: How can they live like that? How can they be prepared when they know there are always individuals and countries out there just like in 1941 and just like in 2001? Imagine living in a country in which your entire border is surrounded by a fence or a wall in order to keep people out--where, in the tough places, there is another barrier and where, in the really tough places, there is a dirt berm.

That drove home again how important it is to be prepared and to always be strong when it comes to defending this country and the liberty and freedoms we all enjoy every day. I never thought it could happen in 1941, and I didn't think it could happen in 2001. It can happen again because that is the world we live in.

When I came here as a U.S. Senator, I always knew the most important thing this body should do was foster the defense and the security of this country. When you see it has slipped so precariously over the last few years--and thank goodness that we have built it back up to a level that makes sense--it is because we always need to be prepared. If we are going to truly honor all of the lives that were lost in 1941 and 2001 and will be inevitably lost down the road, we need to be strong; we need to be prepared. We always need to be aware of the fact that we are blessed just as the State of Israel is blessed--despite all of that--with a thriving economy. They live with that danger every day, and they find a way to get through it. Let us never let our guard down or drop our defenses here. Our freedom and our liberty depend upon it.

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