Honoring America’s Fallen: House Intelligence Chairman Crawford Marks 25th Anniversary of 9/11
WASHINGTON, D.C — Today, on the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford (AR-01) issued the following statement:
“On September 11, 2001, I was in the studio producing a television show when news broke that a plane had struck the World Trade Center, a tragedy we initially assumed was a freak accident until the second plane hit and left us in stunned disbelief,” said Chairman Rick Crawford. “Miles away, the heroic actions of the 40 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93 prevented another catastrophic strike on the U.S. Capitol, marking the true beginning of the Global War on Terror with an extraordinary victory won by ordinary Americans in the skies over Pennsylvania. Today, the names of the Flight 93 heroes stand proudly off the Capitol Rotunda as a daily reminder of their sacrifice and a lesson in unwavering vigilance. Similarly, in New York City and Arlington, Virginia, first responders and even average Americans stepped up to show themselves extraordinary as they moved into action, even to the point of sacrificing themselves, to save others. To all the families of the 2,977 heroes who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, we carry their memory in our hearts and reaffirm our promise to never forget their sacrifice. Twenty-five years later, as we face evolving threats from both global terrorism and aggressive nation-state adversaries at home and abroad, we cannot repeat the ‘failure of imagination’ that left us vulnerable in 2001.”
Background: As announced last year, this week the Committee completed its yearlong review of the 9/11 Commission Report analyzing the lessons learned after 25 years. On Monday, August 31, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held its first ever field hearing at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The event kicked off with a roundtable discussion with first responders and families of the 40 heroic passengers and crew members who made an extraordinary decision to save countless lives on the ground in Washington, D.C. It then continued into a business meeting where the Committee voted out its report on the yearlong review of the 9/11 Commission at the 25 year mark. Read the Committee’s final review of the 9/11 Commission Report HERE.
Watch the Committee’s roundtable discussion with families of Flight 93 HERE. Watch the Committee’s first field hearing in Shanksville, PA HERE.
On Tuesday, September 1, the Committee held a formal wreath-laying ceremony to honor the 184 lives lost at the Pentagon. In gathering to lay the wreath, the Committee reaffirms a solemn obligation to honor their memory and uphold the spirit of resilience that defined the nation in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Read the Committee’s final review of the 9/11 Commission Report HERE
On Tuesday, September 1, the Committee held a formal wreath-laying ceremony to honor the 184 lives lost at the Pentagon. In gathering to lay the wreath, the Committee reaffirms a solemn obligation to honor their memory and uphold the spirit of resilience that defined the nation in the aftermath of the tragedy.
On Thursday, September 3, Chairman Crawford, and the two 9/11 Commission review Task Force Co-Chairs Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) participated in a special fireside chat at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City to discuss the Committee’s bipartisan review of the 9/11 Commission Report and the future of national security. Chairman Crawford, Rep. Stefanik, and Rep. Gottheimer joined Museum Director Clifford Chanin to highlight how we can ensure that the lessons learned continue to inform our nation’s security and preparedness.
The Committee presented a wreath in honor of the 2,753 people who were killed in New York City during the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, including 343 firefighters and paramedics from the FDNY, 23 officers from the NYPD, and 37 officers from the Port Authority Police Department.
