President Bush said last night in his address to the nation that September 11, 2001 will forever be an important date in the history of America. One year after the attacks on New York City, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, Congressman Bill Shuster spent his day reflecting on the events of the past year, and looking forward to the awesome responsibilities to come.
The freshman congressman started his day in Shanksville at the memorial service for the 40 passengers who died in the crash of Flight 93.
“It was very moving to be with the family members of Flight 93,” said Shuster. “I think it is resonating in my mind what happened in New York and the Pentagon is certainly where we took the biggest hit and the biggest losses of life. The firemen and policemen the bravery and courage that they displayed was certainly impressive, but those 40 passengers of Flight 93 what I believe is they waged the first battle in the War on Terrorism. They were ordinary Americans who saw what was happening, they united and their resolve was to stop these people from killing anybody else. They fought a battle over the skies of Pennsylvania and that battle ended up in victory in the field of Shanksville where they now lay to rest.”
Shuster looks at the passengers of Flight 93 as heroes who exemplify the Spirit of America.
“Really what happened that day, September 11 over Shanksville, certainly should send a message that should be clear to the terrorists and the enemies around the world that this is what Americans do. We will fight, each and every one of us, for our freedom and our liberties in this country. We don’t have to be soldiers, we don’t have to be police or firemen, we as citizens won’t stand for what happened and those people are a glowing example of that committment that Americans feel towards our freedom.”
Today, President Bush addressed the United Nations, laying out the groundwork for the possible invasion and war with Iraq. The Daily Herald asked Shuster if there is anything that he can share concerning the plans with Iraq.
“We’ve had some classified briefings but pretty much what is out there in the public is what we know,” said Shuster. “The President is going to the United Nations, he is going to make his case to the United Nations on why we need to act against Saddam Hussein and have a regime change in Iraq. I listened to testimony yesterday (September 10) of two former U.N. Insspectors, one a biological inspector and one a field weapons inspector. They were very clear that Saddam Hussein has the capabilities for a biological attack on our friends and could possibly that the anthrax in this country a year ago was from Iraq. He has been working at a feverish pace to develop nuclear weapons. They were quite clear that he is going to be able to do it in the near future.”
Shuster believes that with the possibility of Hussein aquiring nuclear weapons, the pre-emptive strike is necessary.
“We need to act now before he has nuclear weapons,” said Shuster. “We can’t let him hold the world hostage and I believe the President will come to Congress
in the near future to make his case to the United States Congress which in effect represents the people of America.”
Shuster supports taking on Iraq, but believes in the importance of the President taking his case to the Congress.
“Personally I favor a resolution to give the President the authority to force a regime change in Iraq,” said Shuster. “I still think we should have this debate, not about how many troops we send or what our military strategy is. But the debate should be on the policy of should we do a pre-emptive strike which has never been done in our history.”
In every military conflict the United States has participated, it has been a reaction to an attack on the United States or one of its allies.
“In this case we are talking anout a nuclear weapon,” said Shuster. “As I listen to the inspectors, everybody thinks in terms of the capability of launching a nuclear attack with a missile, but they can do it with container ships. He could send one into one of our ports and have a pretty devestating effect if it is set off in one of the ports in one of our major cities in this country.”
In retrospect, Shuster believes that good came out of the September 11 attacks.
“I think we have changed in the effect we are closer as a nation,” said the Congressman. “Our unity is stronger. Some of what happened in Washington, some of the partisan bickering is back, but that is on policy questions. When I was in New York on Friday for the commerative session of Congress at Federal Hall, it was very apparant the unity of this country and the unity of Congress is there. We’ve had our eyes opened up that we can be attacked, we have to prepare ourselves.
We have to make sure we have a strong military. We have to make sure that our military is rebuilt, which we are in the process of doing, and we need to strengthen our Homeland Security.
On the issue of Homeland Security, Shuster points out that the United States is a haven for terrorism.
“When we see briefs and reports that show the havens around the world for terrorists, the United States is a haven for terrorists,” said Shuster. “It is because of the freedom we have here. So we need to make sure our law enforcement has the tools, make sure we have the organization in place to protect our borders and also to make sure internally that when we find terrorists, we can go after them.”
That brings up the debate of that has been going around. How much freedom do you have to give up for protection?
“I don’t think we need to give up freedom,” said Shuster. “I think we’ll be inconvienced for instance at our airports. For safety and security, inconvience is worth it.
I think we have to make sure we are vigilant. To make sure that freedoms are not contracted, but we also have to make sure we give law enforcement the tools to defend us.”
One year after the 9/11 attacks, the world continues to evolve. The War on Terrorism continues and a war with Iraq may start in the near future.
