Washington, September 9, 2016 - Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-14) today issued the following statement in commemoration of the 15^th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which is on Sunday:

“I’ll never forget where I was 15 years ago today. I was in my truck, leaving a job site in Cartersville, when the radio was interrupted with news that the north tower of the World Trade Center was on fire. I pulled over on the side of the road as the confusion of the situation developed, listening in shock. America was under attack.

“As we quickly learned, the enemy was not a foreign country or a traditional army. It was a deranged group of ideologues who sought to sow fear through death and destruction. Militant Islamic terrorists had attacked some of our nation's most iconic cities and landmarks.

“We lost nearly 3,000 innocent lives that day. Children lost their parents. Husbands and wives lost their spouse. Brothers and sisters lost siblings. We all lost fellow Americans.

“But still, as a nation, we refused to bow to terror. On September 11, 2001, Americans came together, united in our common values and strengthened by our resolve to overcome this new threat. We did not – and never will – let fear dictate our way of life. We carried on. We persevered.

“In the heat of an election year and despite the continued challenges facing our nation, today let’s come together and remember that we’re all Americans. We will never let fear win. We will always persevere. We will always overcome. We are still a “shining city upon a hill.”

###