From the Battlefield to Congress, 9/11 Shaped the Men and Women Who Answered the Call to Serve

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Twenty-five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks devastated our nation, a generation of patriots stepped up to answer the call to service. In a brand-new episode of the Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) Right to the Point podcast, Rep. Matt Van Epps (TN-07) sits down with Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08) to discuss the events leading up to 9/11, reflect on the twenty-five years since 9/11, and share their unique perspectives as members of the generation whose lives and careers were shaped by the impacts of the worst terrorist attack in history.

Both Congressmen recall where they were on America’s darkest day. Rep. Van Epps was a freshman at West Point, when the whole trajectory of his young career was changed, and Rep. Evans was a young highschooler with his whole life ahead of him. They recount how the event influenced their decision to serve, led them to the Middle East, and continues to inform their service in the halls of Congress today.

The Congressmen also highlight the progress the U.S. military has made to rebuild its strength and deterrence under President Trump and Republicans. The Working Families Tax Cuts Act delivered a $150 billion investment into America’s national security, helping equip servicemembers with the resources to meet the threats of tomorrow. House Republicans also passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027, taking a major step toward ensuring the United States remains the world’s preeminent fighting force.

You can listen to the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Read highlights from the conversation below:

Rep. Matt Van Epps (TN-07): “On September 11th, 2001. Our nation, our freedoms, our way of life came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts carried out by the Islamic terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four airliners that day. Two were flown into each of the Twin Towers in New York City. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, which is the headquarters of the Department of War, and a fourth plane crashed into rural Pennsylvania after heroic passengers and crew members thwarted the terrorist main mission. It was an absolutely devastating moment for our country and one that would change the course of American history. Do you want to explain to the viewers what led to the rise of Qaeda? What were America's initial reactions in the aftermath of 9/11?”

Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08): “In the 1980s, the the Russians were in Afghanistan, and the United States equipped them with a lot of technological, them being the Afghanis, equipped them with a lot of technological weapons, stinger missiles, other things like that, to help engage in that proxy war against Russia…Starting really with that, that interaction between the United States and the the Afghanis and then extending through Desert Storm, which is what really set off Osama Bin Laden, that, you know, filthy Western infidel feet had touched the holy soil of Saudi Arabia, which, of course, is where the two most holy cities in Islam are, Mecca and Medina…Osama just could not get over the US involvement in the region. The first bombing of the World Trade Center, because , remember, they got bombed, attacked twice. There was the original bombing and then ultimately culminating with the attacks on September 11th…I mean, you go back to the Marines thing about, you know, the the shores of Tripoli, which was the first time that the United States ever had to interact with, you know, Islamic motivated terrorists at the time, they called him the Barbary pirates.”

Rep. Matt Van Epps (TN-07): “For me, I was a freshman at West Point during 9/11, proud member of the class of 9/11. I started there in June 2001 and then graduated in 2005. And distinctly remember where I was at that day, computer science class and the instructor rolled in the TV after the first plane hit, and we watched the second plane hit, and we just knew from that moment we were going to war. We knew that the next four years were going to shape how we were going to serve as army officers, and that we were preparing for the global war on terror…I'm still serving in the Tennessee Army National Guard today. And I mean, 9/11 has shaped all of that…Can you talk a little bit more about how September 11th shaped your decision to serve, and what your experience was as a post 9/11 service member?” 

Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08): “I remember exactly where I was. I was fifteen years old in high school working that standard, you know, part time high school job. September 11th was Tuesday, I believe…I remember it, same as you, sitting in the living room, just glued to the TV, watching that second plane hit. I'm fifteen, I'm a couple of years away from, at that point, you know, being able to join the military. But height of the surge when I was in college, that's where the Army recruiter got me…It’s 2007 again, height of the surge and I dodged him the first and the second day because I knew I was going to be susceptible to him. And he got me the third day. But as one of my sergeants would say, you know, I laughed, I cried, and I would absolutely do it all over again. But I just remember, to me, one of the most impactful memories that I have, and you've probably seen it too, a lot of folks probably have, that pencil drawing, of the rubble of the two towers and the firefighter, you know, holding the flag, but the firefighters down on his knees. And then it's the soldier that comes by and takes the flag and says, you know, we'll take it from here. I mean, that sticks with me to this day.”

Rep. Matt Van Epps (TN-07): “As we think about Afghanistan and having served in Operation Enduring Freedom as part of the global war on terror, our presence in Afghanistan ended in a way that I know you and I just did not want it to end that way with the Biden-Harris administration, just botched withdrawal from that…That was [a] strategic failure by the Biden-Harris administration. And as a result, as a result of the failures, the plan and their ignorance of the warning signs, thirteen US service members and 170 civilians were murdered in a terrorist attack at Abbey Gate on August 26th, 2021. The Taliban, which allowed Al-Qaeda a safe space to plan and execute the 9/11 terrorist attacks, were able to recapture the capital city of Kabul. From your perspective, what went wrong? What lesson should Americans take away from that tragedy?”

Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08): “I hit country in the Middle East a week after Benghazi. And so you want to talk about a morale gut punch when you touch down in a combat zone about to go, you know, engage in counterterrorism operations. And you know that a week prior that at the time the Obama-Biden administration decided that a US ambassador was expendable…That's a gut punch, especially for air crews. You and I know we’re at high risk of being isolated or otherwise finding ourselves in a really rough position behind enemy lines or separated from US forces…Right after we left country was when the Iranians rolled up that US Navy boat crew. And watching just the absolute disrespect that the Obama-Biden administration allowed U.S. Navy personnel to be put through when the Iranians captured that boat crew. And to me, those are the precursors of the withdrawal, the disastrous withdrawal from Bagram and from Afghanistan, because it set a precedent that Obama and Biden and Harris, they did not negotiate from a position of strength. They did not care to negotiate from a position of strength.”

Rep. Matt Van Epps (TN-07): “One of the biggest legacies of 9/11, and we mentioned this just briefly earlier, is the way it fundamentally changed how America approaches homeland security. Congress created the Department of Homeland Security to bring together critical agencies and improve coordination, intelligence sharing, and our ability to respond to threats. Today, as you know, the Department of Homeland Security oversees an enormous range of missions, from CISA and cybersecurity to ICE and CBP, TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard, Secret Service, all very critical agencies that have to work together for the Homeland Security mission. Why is it important that all of these capabilities work together as part of that overarching homeland security mission?”

Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08): “It’s been twenty-five years since the September 11th terrorist attack, and we have to make sure we're not slipping into complacency. We have to understand that there are people who sit around all day and all night scheming, plotting, and planning how to inflict harm on Americans and how to attack the American homeland. And so starting with that understanding that you know that we have enemies that never sleep, that want to attack us, we have to make sure that we synchronize all of our efforts to protect the homeland…We have to synchronize and coordinate federal agencies to be able to talk to each other. But we also have to work with our state and our local partners. And that ties into my experience for a decade as a municipal police officer, because your local police departments, your local firefighters looping all the way back to where we started this conversation with, you know, firefighters in New York City. They're a critical part of this. Our state partners are a critical part of this. And so finding ways to share information and to make sure that certain states in this country are actually following and respecting federal law, rather than erecting every possible barrier they can think of to obstruct federal law enforcement in terms of being able to protect the integrity of our border and who comes into our country.”

Rep. Matt Van Epps (TN-07): “[The] threat landscape does not stand still. Twenty-five years ago, as you mentioned, we're confronting a very different threat environment. And today we have to think about terrorism alongside cyber attacks, drones, threats to critical infrastructure, transnational criminal organizations, emerging tech that can be weaponized by our adversaries. And at the same time, what we've seen this year, Democrats use the department as a pawn in their political games, which is absolutely unacceptable. They caused three shutdowns already in FY 26 alone, at a time when the threat landscape is becoming more complex, the men and women who make up DHS and its components should be focused on their critical mission, not where their next paycheck is coming from and how they're going to have to take care of their families.”

Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08): “I was incredibly pleased to see the administration designate these cartels and drug organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, because if you look at the September 11th death toll, we lost just under 3000 Americans that day. Every fifteen days under the Joe Biden open border disaster with poisonous drugs flowing into our community every fifteen days, we lost more than the September 11th death toll due to drug overdoses. Every fifteen days, the cartels and the drug dealers have killed more Americans than al-Qaida have ever could ever dream of. And so being able to secure the border, being able to again aggressively go after these organizations, that's critical to being able to protect the American homeland. And the close to 400,000 people that died from drug overdoses under Joe Biden, never repeating that ever again.”