Martin amy miller. Sergeant amy miller. [hail to the chief] please take your seats. It is our sacred duty to honor the memory of the following from that fateful day. We honor the innocent lives lost in the carnage, our First Responders who ran into it, and our citizens that went down fighting back. We also honor those that gave their lives in the response to defend america. From 9 11 to the present, over 7000 members of the military made the ultimate sacrifice. Over 53,000 were wounded, and hundreds of thousands still fear the internal scars of bear the internal scars of war. Today, we honor them. We honor fathers, and mothers, who gave sons and daughters. We honor children, many of whom only have framed memories of their parents. We honor the brothers and sisters of our Farm Armed Forces united forever through the crucible of combat. On this day, we must commit to continue to honor them all. Through our selfless service, to our nation, and by taking care of the families of the fallen. Taking care of our veterans. We must take care of each other. And give hope to the hopeless. We must never accept defeat and never quit. We must energetically be ready to fight and win our nations wars. I am proud to serve with all of you. You are americas best. You have many choices, and despite the hazards of our profession, you courageously chose to serve. And to tell america i have your back. I thank god for you all, may god bless you and bless our great nation. As we remember our fallen and our commitment to the future, please stand and join me in a moment of silence. [silence] [taps] ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. Good morning. It is an honor to be here. Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing on september 11, 2001. For me, i wasnt Airman First Class serving at my first duty station in oklahoma as a medic. After being stopped in my tracks in disbelief while watching what was unfolding on tv, i remember getting the notification from my supervisor that i was being assigned to a certain Recovery Team and that i needed to go home and pack my bags. Our team was leaving that same night, in response to the shocking attack. I just watch that attack unfold mere moments ago. That team of 14 personnel boarded ac17 from our home station, the night of september 11. My husband was the crew chief on that c17, and sent our team off that night. I did not know what to expect. What we would be doing. Or how long we would be gone. I just knew that we were needed. Our country needed us, our fellow americans needed us. And we, as was our sacred duty, answered the call to serve. Later, i learned that we were headed to new jersey to support fema and their search and recovery efforts. We stayed onsite for about two weeks, prepared to lend a hand in any way that we could. Being on site and seeing the billowing smoke rising from ground zero open my eyes as a young airman. It left an indelible imprint, and ever present reminder of the cherished freedoms for which we serve. It made me realize what being a medic and military member truly means, and to this day, it continues to drive my desire to serve this great nation. It is now my honor to introduce the 46th president of the United States, our commanderinchief, president joe biden. [applause] President Biden thank you chief Master Sergeant miller. For that introduction and your service to our nation. This we both have something in common, where both from scranton. Thank you both for speaking, and major general, i appreciate you. And general sax, and the tribal stewards and leaders of these sacred liens, and all of these families and distinguished guests. I join you on this sunday to renew our sacred vow, never forget. Never forget. We never forget. Each of us, each of those pressers precious lives stolen too soon in this attack. Ground zero new york, i remember standing there the next day and looking at the building, i felt like i was looking through the gates of hell, it looked so devastated. Because of where you can stand. The pentagon, i spent many years in witness to remember those we lost. Every day, but especially the last few days, the memory has been with me. I just returned from the g20 summit in india where we strengthened americas leadership on the global stage, followed by a historic trip to vietnam, where we transferred transformed our partnership in one of the most reach medical regions of the world. These would not be possible without the broad array of partners that stand with us and assure our security. To build a world that is safer for all of our children, today of all days, what i am reminded of is that it is not a given. No that distance is not diminished or dull the pain that we felt on 9 11. 22 years ago, personnel from this base were scrambled to escort airplanes through the airspace. People open their doors for stranded passengers. American flags sold out in every store and were placed in front of every single home. We know that every americans was wounded, yet every big city, small town, suburb, rural town american hands went up ready to help when they could, ready to serve like so many of you here. Ready like the chief Master Sergeant here with us today, who had recently started college. She said i quote i immediately knew i wanted to sign up and sued up to serve my country. Ready like general eisler, who said on that day, when our nation calls, we must be ready. It called, and we went without hesitation. My fellow americans, september 11, 2001, tested our strength, resolve and courage. The billowing smoke that darkened the Clear Blue Sky that september day. The shredded steel and concrete slabs that rained down from the world trade center. A plume of fire that shut up in the pentagon. I remember seeing it after i got off of the train to the senate. The pit in the earth a testament to the unbreakable courage and resolve of the American People. We will never forget when faced with people that sought to tear us apart we endured. While every year we mark this holiday, it is never easy, anyone here or across the country morning a lost loved one, all of those who still bear the wounds from that searing september morning, i know how hard it is. On a day like this. How can we reopen that wound . Its like reopening a black hole in your chest, sucking you into it again. Bring it back to that moment when you saw the news, the moment you got that phone call and realized you would never say see you later mom again, or talk to you soon, son. Think of everything your loved one might have done if they had more time. What what they have done . That feeling can leave you so hollow and also make you full at the same time. On this day, i am thinking about a friend of mine at davis matt davis, who grew up with me. He had passed the year without a young get his youngest son, who died at 15. And another son had gotten a job at the 104th floor ground zero. Matt desperately searched for any help there. I called him later to talk about it, and he said it was like losing a piece of your soul. We tried to make sense of what happened. Guess what. Having lost two sons, davis told me, just tell them joe. Dont be afraid. Dont be afraid. The terrorists stole 297 stalls 2977 souls that day. So many families in the history story of our nation. Those terrorists could not touch what any enemy ever could, the soul of america. What is the soul of america . The bread of life, the essence of who we are, the soul that makes us who we are. The soul of america is based on the sacred proposition that we are all created equal, and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have not always lived up to it, but we have never walked up away from it. The soul of america is fortitude, which we found in the fear of that terrible september day. The purpose that we found in our pain, the light that we found in our darkest hour. And terrorists believed that they could bring us to our knees and bent our will and break a result. They were wrong. Our resolve. They were wrong. Dead wrong. The crucible of 9 11 and the days and months that followed, we saw the stuff that america was made of. Firefighters and Police Officers running into an inferno of jet fuel to pray at ground zero, breathing in toxic ash which would damage their own health, civilians and servicemembers at the pentagon rushing into the fiery breach again and again and again to rescue their colleagues. The patriot passengers on flight 93, think of this. Who did not know the horror that awaited them, but they confronted the unimaginable fear and terror with absolute courage. Its astonishing. Maya angelou wrote that history, despite its pain, cannot be on lived. When we face it with courage, we need not live it again. My mother put it in different way. My mother was a lady with a backbone like a ramrod. She said, and i mean this sincerely, courage lies in every heart, and expectation is that one day it will be summoned. On september 11, it was summoned at 9 57 a. M. , summoned when 40 incredible women and men in shanksville answered the call, even their lives and even life to our country. We saw that courage at ground zero at the pentagon, and we see saw it in so many other ways. These are heroes all across the country who push back against the fear and hate they sought directed at Muslim Americans and middle eastern americans of south asian descent. Heroes, like all of you, the brave women and men of the armed forces, never faltered, who have never failed to defend our nation and people and values in times of trial. Hundreds of thousands of brave americans deployed to afghanistan to make sure the United States would not be attacked again. Who served in iraq, like many of you probably did. A war zone, around the world, risking safety their safety and for the safety of their fellow citizens. They sacrificed again and again to defend our democracy and deny terrorists safe haven, those who follow Osama Bin Laden and sent him to the gates of hell 12 years ago. And last year i made the decision to take out zaila hearing, the number two who met the same fate. And today, our Intelligence Committee has assessed and declassified memo that al qaeda has reached an historic low. All this has changed over the last 22 years, but the resolve of the American People has proved that we never bow, we never bent, we never yield. I longest work is over, but we still need to prevent our commitment to stopping further attacks will never rest. Never. Terrorism, including ideological violence, is the opposite of all we stand for as a nation. Were going to continue to track terrorists threats in all forms wherever it may be. We will disrupt terrorist activities wherever we might find it. And i will never hesitate to do what is necessary to defend the American People, as i will never forget our sacred duty for those of you who serve. Never before has america hats asked so much for so many over such a sustained. For an all volunteer force. You make up 1 of the population, but you are the strength and defenders and the bath backbone and the sinew of america. As a nation we have many obligations, but we only have one truly sacred obligation. To prepare those we sent into harms way to care for them and their families so that they can return home and when they do not return home. It is an obligation. Not based on party or politics, but on a promise that unites all americans, and over the last 2. 5 years, i have worked to make good on that promise, signing more than 25 bipartisan laws to support our Service Members and veterans and family and caregivers and survivors. We will not stop, we owe you big and it matters. Across the country, Many Americans heard the nations call in the days after 9 11. And there are those who were just children, not even born yet when this happened. But when their time came to choose to serve, they did so not because they saw something but they felt Something Like many of you did. The same feeling that brought americans together on that fateful day. Unity, and it should not take a National Tragedy to remind us of the power of national unity. That is how we truly honor those we lost on 9 11. By remembering what we can do together, and remembering what marie we repaired, but was threatened that we fortified, what was attacked and that the american spirit prevailed overall. I met ordinary americans responding in unexpected ways. That is who you are. You are the greatest nation, that is the greatest lesson lesson of 9 11, not that we will never fail, but that there is nothing that we cannot accomplish when we defend with our hearts that which makes us unique in the world. Our democracy. Our democracy. Every generation has to fight to preserve it. That is why they targeted us in the first place. Our freedom, our openness, our institutions. They failed. But we must remain vigilant. Today, we can look across the country and around the world and see anger and fear in places that many of you have been stationed before. The rise of extremism and political violence. It is more important than ever that we come around the together around the principle of american democracy despite our political backgrounds. We must not succumb to poisonous politics of difference and division, or allow ourselves to be pulled apart by pitting manufactured grievances. We must continue to stand united. We have an obligation, a duty and responsibility, to defend and preserve and protect our democracy. And always from amber, american democracy depends not on some of us but on all of us. It depends on the habits of the heart, of we the people. The habits of the heart, let me close with this. Earlier today, in hanoi, i visited the markers to honor my friend, a war hero, senator and statesman, john mccain. We disagree, like brothers we argued on the senate floor, then we would go to lunch together. I got to see john before he passed away at his home, as i was walking out i put my hand he put his hand on my chest and pulled me down and kissed me and said i love you, will you do my eulogy . We were friends, like many of us work that had differences. One thing i always admired about john was how he put duty to countries first, and thats not hyperbole, he did. Above party, politics, his own person. We must never lose that sense of national unity. Let that be the common cause of our time, let us honor september 11 by renewing our faith in one another and remembering who we are as a nation. We never forget, we are never afraid, we endure and overcome. There is nothing that is beyond our capacity when me put our mind to it, together. God bless you all, may god protect our troops. Thank you. [applause]