[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3155]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ESSAY BY LESLIE LOPEZ

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. PETE OLSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 7, 2012

  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 these with my House colleagues.
  Leslie Lopez is a junior at Pasadena Memorial High School in Harris 
County, Texas. Her essay topic is: Select an important event that has 
occurred in the past 50 years and explain how that event has changed 
our country. Leslie chose September 11th, 2001.

       September eleventh is a day that will be remembered for 
     ages to come by citizens in our nation. The long-lived 
     memorable event marked not only the lives of the people, but 
     our entire country as a whole. The attacks of that date 
     affected the nation's economy, took our peace of mind, and 
     caused us to enforce anti-terrorism policies that till this 
     day have not changed.
       The attacks had a significant economic impact on the United 
     States and world markets. The stock exchange remained closed 
     for several days in the aftermath; the Dow Jones Industrial 
     Average fell significantly; in only three months after the 
     occurrence, nearly 430,000 jobs were lost as well as millions 
     of dollars in wages. The small businesses in Lower Manhattan 
     were affected as well. A staggering 18,000 of those were 
     destroyed or replaced, resulting in a loss of jobs and wages. 
     The events of September eleventh most definitely left its 
     mark on the nation's economy.
       The tragedy also affected the country's peace of mind. 
     People felt as if not even homes or schools were then longer 
     safe. Recalling back to that date, I was only a child and 
     could not understand why every adult parent and teacher 
     seemed paranoid at what was happening in New York. What 
     seemed like weeks after went by and the occurrence was still 
     fresh on everyone's minds. Till this day, citizens have not 
     completely reinstated that peace of mind they once had, and 
     it will continue to be this way for years to come.
       With the 9-11 attacks came new anti-terrorism policies 
     which did not exist prior to the date. The Department of 
     Homeland Security, for example, was created a couple of years 
     after the occurrence to protect the states against terrorism 
     activity. The attacks also indirectly caused the War in 
     Afghanistan as an effort to dismantle the al-Qaeda terrorist 
     organization, which was also set into motion only a month 
     after the attacks on the World Trade Center.
       The changes that the 9-11 attacks caused brought drastic 
     changes to the United States and the grand scheme of things, 
     the economy, our peace of mind, and the anti-terrorism 
     policies that were adopted were only a small portion of all 
     that the attacks affected.

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