By MARY LANDRIEU

So much has happened in the last year. I cannot imagine any of us will ever forget Sept. 11, 2001. As a nation, it stunned us. It awakened us to a new and frightening threat. It angered us. And, in our anger, in our sorrow, it united us.

The attack on our country reminded us all that whatever our culture, our background, our social standing, whatever our religious beliefs might be, we are Americans. We believe in the right to have differences of opinion, and to talk about those differences openly. We believe that people who disagree can live together in peace. And we believe that true freedom can only be experienced by people who can freely choose.

We are still grieving. And we are still angry. But we are stronger today than we were a year ago. We lost our innocence that day – but we gained our resolve. We understand now what we are facing. We understand the necessity to protect ourselves. We understand that beyond the minute details of millions of lives, there is a big picture here, and we are all a part of it.

Congress has helped our country to heal, and now we face a new challenge in helping to prevent any further attacks. My colleagues and I have worked together in a bipartisan way to address this crisis. We have focused on passing legislation that will create a new, cabinet-level position to ensure the security of our nation. The current structure of our government is similar to a patchwork quilt of overlapping responsibilities. It is no small job to encompass the security of our country and its borders, but Congress will not rest until there is an established umbrella organization to oversee departments affecting our homeland security.

After the events of last year, concern arose over the safely of our domestic energy infrastructure and resources. I introduced legislation to protect our energy facilities including power plants, refineries, electric transmission lines, pipelines and ports. My legislation helps take preventative action to protect our energy sources in two ways. First, by requiring each governor in the United States to come up with a specific plan on heightening and improving security within our energy infrastructure, we can prevent another domestic attack. Second, by establishing a National Energy Infrastructure Security Fund, we would rely on revenues from federal oil and natural gas leases to ensure that our domestic energy infrastructure has the financial means to provide additional security.

I am pleased with the funding the Senate has been able to approve to secure our ports, but I am hoping to go even further this fall. Louisiana is positioned at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the greatest inland trade waterway in the world, so our port system is a vital part of our state and national economy. As such, it must be fully protected. I am preparing legislation which will provide radiation monitors at our seaports, to detect and prevent dirty-bomb materials from entering our country.

As we take a moment to look back on the horrific events last year, it is some solace to know that in times of crisis, our government can meet the challenge. I am hopeful that the unity and integrity that binds our freedom-loving country together will continue to give us the strength to prevail.

MARY LANDRIEU represents Louisiana in the United States Senate.