Stevens: “We were supposed to be one”
In this month dedicated to the Duty of government to form a more perfect Union, we give thought to what joins us together — the values and beliefs we share, as Democrats and as Americans.
Joined together doesn’t mean we’re the same. It means we are united in a common purpose. That’s what we started with. That’s where we are.
Congresswoman Haley Stevens posted on Substack on September 11, 2026 - the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that took 2,996 lives in New York and Washington. Stevens wrote of the attacks and the attackers, but most importantly of our response in those first few days - a response that reflected our American values. In part, Stevens wrote:
We were never supposed to be identical.
We were supposed to be one.
There is a difference.
Because a wreath doesn’t ask how you voted.
A uniform doesn’t ask where you came from.
A name carved into a memorial doesn’t tell you which arguments somebody won.
It tells you that somebody was here.
That somebody was loved.
That somebody served.
That somebody mattered.
And suddenly the things that seemed enormous yesterday become very small.
And every once in a while, history gives us a moment that strips everything else away and reminds humanity of the things that belong to all of us.
September 11 is one of those moments.
Our Democratic Creed pledges that we, the government of and by the people, have a Duty prescribed in our Constitution - to form a more perfect Union, … to promote the General Welfare. When we join together and act as one, we are living the Democratic Creed.
Source for Stevens post on Substack: https://haleyformi.substack.com/p/america-was-not-built-on-fear
