Whereas, on September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the extremist group al-Qaida hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States;

Whereas two of the airplanes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, resulting in a total of nearly 3,000 innocent people killed;

Whereas, on that same evening, President George W. Bush delivered a televised address from the White House declaring, Terrorist attacks can shake the foundation of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundations of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve., and President Bush said We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed [horrific] acts and those who harbor them;

Whereas, on October 7, 2001, President George W. Bush ordered the military to begin an operation that would be designated as Operation Enduring Freedom to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network, and, within two months, United States forces removed the Taliban from operational power, but the war continued;

Whereas, for 20 years the men and women of the Armed Forces fought bravely, and during that period 1,926 military personnel were killed by hostile action and 535 by nonhostile action, and 20,752 were wounded;

Whereas the honorable and brave souls who fought and died and were wounded during Operation Enduring Freedom, those who are missing, and those who died since from the consequences of that war, deserve the eternal gratitude and respect of this Nation, to be expressed on a special day to be selected at a later date and remembered every year in perpetuity and dedicated as Operation Enduring Freedom Day as an official day of recognition and honor;

Whereas the men and women who served with dedication, honor, and pride during Operation Enduring Freedom, both in country and in support of those in harm’s way, as well as those protecting our freedoms at home and throughout other parts of the world at that time, deserve the eternal gratitude and respect of this Nation;

Whereas the families whose loved ones gave their lives for our country during Operation Enduring Freedom deserve the eternal gratitude and respect of this Nation; and

Whereas the families of those men and women who came home with the physical and emotional wounds of Operation Enduring Freedom and committed to a lifetime of care and support for their loved one deserve the eternal gratitude and respect of this Nation: Now, therefore, be it