Rep. Kelly Statement on 15th Anniversary of 9/11

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) issued the following statement today in recognition of this Sunday’s 15th anniversary of the al Qaeda terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, as well as the fourth  anniversary of the terrorist attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

“Fifteen years ago this Sunday, Americans awoke in one world and went to sleep in another. Illusions of perfect safety between two giant oceans were shattered as pure evil revealed its hideous face and took the lives of 3,000 innocent civilians in an unthinkable act of terror. History once again summoned our nation to rise up and defend our way of life from those who would take it all away. From the passengers above the sky in Pennsylvania to our troops on the battlefield today, brave American patriots have been answering the call of duty ever since.

“The terrorists we face on so many fronts today pose radical new challenges but are making the same mistake as our adversaries of the last century: they assume that free men and women will cower and surrender to fear and violence as they advance their evil agenda; they assume spectacularly wrong. The American spirit inhabits every citizen, past and present, and will always illuminate our great republic to shine through even the darkest of times.

“On this solemn anniversary, I pray for God to bless the souls of those we lost and their families, and that we never forget the lessons of that tragic day of infamy.”

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