[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4978]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ZACH JANDA'S ESSAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. PETE OLSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 14, 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.
  Zach Janda attends Seven Lakes High School in Katy, 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.

       In the past fifteen years many events have occurred that 
     have shaped, molded, and changed the United States of 
     America. Among the several elections that have transpired, 
     the wars we have taken a part in, and the initiatives that 
     have been taken one stands out: The infamous 9/11.
       Now being only five years old when this event occurred, I 
     was oblivious to what happened and what would happen next. In 
     the days and weeks following the travesty, America and its 
     citizens as a whole rose up and defeated the immediate 
     challenge to just give up. We came together as a whole when 
     the rest of the world thought we could fall into confusion 
     and anarchy. The rise in patriotism that came after 9/11 
     created a increase in the military enrollments and many 
     people dropped their jobs and went to fight for their 
     country. This can be seen through Pat Tillman: the man who 
     left the glory and multi-million dollar NFL football career 
     to achieve a new glory while fighting overseas.
       This rise in military numbers helped to bolster the US 
     Army, which in turn helped intimidate and suppress their 
     enemies. With all of this great leadership and national pride 
     that came from this travesty there were also minor mishaps 
     that came into play and still affect our nation today. Due to 
     the necessity to act fast to appease the American population, 
     President Bush rushed the USA PATRIOT Act which is becoming 
     more and more controversial today because of the increases in 
     technology and the ease at which the government has the 
     ability to watch over the citizens.
       Now, at the time it may have seemed alright in the public's 
     eyes for the government to be able to watch over every move, 
     but there were not enough provisions (because of the rush) 
     that would provide safety nets for the citizens. I'm not 
     going to delve into my view on the topic but the reason the 
     citizens of America dislike the Act is because they feel as 
     though they are being spied on. The government on the other 
     hand only employs this act to attempt to catch, halt, and 
     deter terrorism in the act, so saying that the government 
     spends their money only to spy on the citizens is false.
       The United States has been resilient and has continued to 
     change for the past fifteen years due to many events. 
     However, the travesty of September 11, 2001 stands out among 
     the rest because of the outcomes, both good and bad, that 
     transpired after the event.

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