[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 125 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE WILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CLIFF STEARNS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 26, 2002

  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, recently, I came across an e-mail that had 
been circulated last year shortly after the September 11 attacks. It 
was sent by a former military professor in which he stated that the 
will of the American people is the fulcrum of this Nation's war on 
terrorism. He stated that the terrorists that attacked on 9-11 counted 
on a ``soft and spoiled'' America, who would eventually quit if 
retaliation did not result in immediate success.
  What the author of the e-mail discovered was an outpouring of ``what 
can I do'' to help in response. And I believe this amply illustrates 
what we continue to see across the United States. What the terrorists 
actually demonstrated with their attacks on 9-11, was their profound 
ignorance of the American people and of history.
  Military theorist Clausewitz, terms war as a ``remarkable trinity 
composed of the primordial passions of the people, the rational 
policies of the state, and the combination of incidents in battle.''
  The ``passions of the people'' were awakened after Pearl Harbor and 
again were awakened after 9-11. One year later, the passions are still 
high. American's are aware that what we are facing is that which 
America's has never seen up close. We were attacked on our own soil by 
an organization of individuals bent--not on removing our presence from 
certain parts of the world--but on our utter destruction.
  We are facing an enemy who despises our very existence. They are 
consumed by hatred for the United States, that despite its faults, is 
open to all people regardless race or religion. We operate under 
principles of freedom, the ability to pursue life, liberty and 
happiness. As such, our country is fighting with hope against terror 
and freedom against oppression. Our enemies will never know freedom, 
because they are imprisoned by hate; and for that they have already 
lost.
  Former U.S. defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger, stated ``The will 
of the American people once aroused . . . is capable of accomplishing 
all the things that have to be done.'' As long as we continue to 
maintain a moral high ground in this campaign against terrorism and its 
supporters and take the appropriate and precise responsive measures, 
the will of the people of this county will know no bounds.

                          ____________________