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Guest Commentary December 31, 2001
At Year's End, A New World
The Honorable Jon Kyl
The year 2001 was momentous for the United States and the world. It is hard to fathom how much things have changed, and how rapidly.
A year ago, when I wrote this column marking the end of 2000, my thoughts were of the presidential campaign and the protracted election and recounts that followed. I discussed a closely-divided Congress and looked ahead to many battles on issues such as HMO reform and improving education. That was what most of thought about here in the Senate: politics and how to get things done without excessive partisanship.
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In some ways, the beginning of the year demonstrated that our concerns were well-founded. We faced a bitter battle over some presidential nominations, particularly the President's choice of John Ashcroft as his Attorney General. Modest tax relief promised by candidate Bush the year before, was threatened, and would have been defeated but for the solidarity of Senate Republicans and the aid of moderate Democrats who saw the wisdom of that policy.
While facing those challenges, President Bush was the subject of blistering criticism for his foreign policy. He was attacked for choosing not to sign the Kyoto Treaty on greenhouse gas emissions, though few nations had actually ratified the agreement and the treaty had been unanimously rejected by the United States Senate. Likewise his determination to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty was termed reckless and a danger to world stability by opponents of a missile defense shield.
Senate Democrats wanted to force the President to sign a health-care bill that actually would have increased the number of uninsured Americans by sharply raising premiums.
Opponents whispered -- and sometimes said aloud -- that the new President was lazy, disengaged, unprepared. They worried that he was untested.
The test came on September 11; Americans everywhere witnessed one of those historical events when we would all remember precisely what we were doing at a fateful moment. As President Bush recently said, looking back: "The only marker we will ever need is the 46th minute of the eighth hour of the eleventh day."
All the things that were so "important" before September 11 went by the wayside. The virulently-opposed Attorney General was hailed by most for his demonstrated calm, resolve and determination in pursuing wrongdoers in our country. The top issues facing the nation were reordered and reshuffled. The "unprepared" and "untested" President demonstrated that he was the man best-suited for "our mission and our moment."
American withdrawal from the ABM Treaty - which opponents warned would cause global shock waves - was greeted instead with restraint. Russia's President even confirmed what many of us have said for years: that U.S. pull-out from the treaty was not a threat to the Russian people.
And, as the year draws to a close, American patriotism is reawakened. There is a sharp spike in the number of people seeking to join our military and the FBI. American flags are sold out and back-ordered here at the U.S. Capitol. American children have given millions of one dollar bills to help provide food and comfort to the children of Afghanistan.
There is a lesson here. As this year ends, we are discovering a remade world, and recognizing the difference between what we think is important and what actually is.
Jon Kyl, a Republican, is a U.S. Senator from Arizona. The above commentary has been adapted from Sen. Kyl's weekly column, December 21, 2001. To contact him, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
