On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I watched the attack against our nation unfold alongside all other Americans with a mixture of horror, grief and anger. The images that I remember from that day, 23 years ago now, come back to me every year as our nation comes together to reflect and remember – firefighters running into the towers as others ran out, a heartbreaking field of debris in Pennsylvania, smoke billowing out of the Pentagon.
As the dust in New York City settled and President Bush vowed that the world would hear from us soon, a new emotion began to grow in me – resolve. While I had watched the attacks the same as every other American, I was in a much different position than most. I was months away from completing my final training as a Navy fighter pilot.
I was assigned to my squadron aboard the USS Nimitz, and shortly after was deployed to the Middle East. I was one of the first naval aviators to conduct combat operations in Iraq, but I wasn’t the last. Millions of others came after my service concluded. These brave men and women were America’s security blanket during the War on Terror.
But it is these patriots, these precious veterans of that tumultuous era, that we are failing today.
As we get further away from that September day, our commitment to Never Forget has grown. It’s grown from honoring the innocent Americans who were killed that day to include honoring the first responders who saved lives, the soldiers who were killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now the veterans who served with honor.
It takes more than parades and coffee shop discounts to pay back the debt that we owe these individuals.
In recent years there’s been a small, but powerful minority who have advocated for defunding the police. How disgraceful it has been to see just how short some memories are. These law enforcement heroes, many of whom sacrificed their lives 20 years ago in the World Trade Center, have an unwavering dedication to keeping us all safe, no matter our race, color, or creed. They had our backs then, and we need to have their backs now more than ever.
As a country, we also have a sacred commitment to uphold with our veterans – ensuring they receive the benefits they earned. This is a commitment that I consider one of my most important duties as congressman, which is why I’ve never voted to cut veterans benefits. Congress relies on the Department of Veterans Affairs to request the necessary amount of funding to fulfill our obligations to veterans.
You can imagine my outrage when news broke just a few weeks ago that the Biden-Harris administration got the numbers wrong. We were informed with less than two months’ notice that there was a massive funding shortfall in the Veterans Administration budget, and that without action by Sept. 20, millions of veterans could see their benefits cut come October.
With this potential catastrophe set to occur 23 years to the month after thousands of Americans enlisted in the military after witnessing the Sept. 11 attacks, inaction would be a slap in the face to the more than 3 million veterans who eventually served in the years that followed. That’s why last week, I introduced the Veterans Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024.
This bill would not only provide the funding that is necessary to avert this pending crisis, but also it would provide oversight and accountability to the VA to ensure that this type of mismanagement never happens again.
This is what Never Forget means. It means that we’ll always remember the innocent lives lost that September day. It means that we’ll always honor the sacrifices of first responders, and that we’ll defend our law enforcement heroes and not defund them. It means that we will always maintain our commitment to the veterans who protected America in the dangerous years that followed.
I urge my colleagues in Congress to take up this bill as soon as possible, and I hope that this effort to protect our veterans earns bipartisan support.
Lastly, in the wake of Hamas’ attack on our strongest ally, Israel, on Oct. 7, we must remember that the same threats America faced in those days have not faded. With our open border and weakened position on the global stage, we need to be mindful now more than ever that evil still exists and we must confront it.
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, represents the 27th Congressional District, which includes the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.
Original Article HERE.
