[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 25, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING RILEY FRANKS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. PETE OLSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 25, 2015

  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to interact with some of the 
brightest students in the 22nd Congressional District who serve on my 
Congressional Youth Advisory Council. I have gained much by listening 
to the high school students who are the future of this great nation. 
They provide important insight into the concerns of our younger 
constituents and hopefully get a better sense of the importance of 
being an active participant in the political process. Many of the 
students have written short essays on a variety of topics and I am 
pleased to share them with my House colleagues.
  Riley Franks attends Pearland High School in Pearland, Texas. The 
essay topic is: select an important event that has occurred in the past 
15 years and explain how that event has changed our country.

       About fourteen years ago, the United States never expected 
     something like this to happen but on September 11, 2001, 
     terrorism took a big turn. A series of four coordinated 
     terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda 
     were set into play in New York City and the Washington D.C. 
     metropolitan area. Two passenger airplanes were hijacked and 
     crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade 
     Center; another was crashed into the Pentagon which caused a 
     partial collapse of the western side, and the fourth plane 
     was targeted at Washington D.C. but crashed into a field near 
     Shanksville, Pennsylvania after some of the passengers tried 
     to overcome the hijackers. A total 2,996 citizens died that 
     day and was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law 
     enforcement officers ever. This day has changed America for 
     the better and the worse in these four major lasting impacts: 
     more than a decade of war, immigration and deportation, the 
     skies, and an increase in surveillance.
       Just a few weeks after the 9/11 event, the United States 
     invaded Afghanistan to try and dismantle al-Qaeda and stop 
     the terrorist group. Then two years later we attacked Iraq as 
     a part of the War on Terror. Today, the U.S. is still 
     entangled with Afghanistan and this War on Terror is now the 
     longest-running war in U.S. history.
       The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was 
     established because of this tragic event. This agency was put 
     into place to help deport criminals and stop those from 
     coming into the U.S. illegally. In the decade after 9/11, 
     deportations nearly doubled and in the first two years of the 
     Obama Administration deportations hit a record high of 
     400,000 annually.
       Airport security took a turn for the better. Although the 
     lines and security rules to get to your gate are outrageous, 
     the skies have never been safer. Before all of these color-
     coded security threat warnings and fancy full body metal 
     detectors and x-rays, pat downs were very uncommon, liquid 
     was allowed, and passengers were even allowed to have knives, 
     box cutters, and cigarette lighters on board.
       Finally, as a country, the U.S. boomed as a surveillance 
     state after 9/11. This resulted in an increase of government 
     intrusion of phone and web networks. By 2013, the United 
     States had enacted 16 spy agencies and more than 107,000 
     employees that now make up the U.S. intelligence community.
       Therefore, after 9/11 the United States has improved in a 
     lot of ways mainly in security and there can only be 
     improvement from here on out and hopefully the U.S. will 
     never have to go through another tragic event such as this.

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