WHEREAS, the Freedom Center was established after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks as the 24-hour, 7 day a week operational center in the global war against terrorism, and it opened in July 2003; and

WHEREAS, the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) primary operational hub was renamed the Freedom Center on June 21, 2007, symbolizing the agency’s commitment to protecting the nation’s transportation systems against terrorist attacks; and

WHEREAS, the building, located in Herndon, Virginia, houses several organizations, including the Federal Air Marshal Service/Office of Law Enforcement, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense, which collaborate to preserve the freedom of the American public; and

WHEREAS, the Freedom Center links all modes of transportation and coordinates with all homeland security agencies to monitor transportation security-related operations, incidents, or crises for TSA within the Department of Homeland Security; and

WHEREAS, the Freedom Center correlates and fuses real-time intelligence and operational information, ensuring unity of command and action in the prevention of, and response to, terrorist-related incidents across all transportation modes including maritime, land, and aviation; and

WHEREAS, signs of the TSA’s September 11, 2001 origins, including a girder from the World Trade Center, part of an airplane wing from the Shanksville, Pennsylvania crash site of Flight 93, and pieces of the Pentagon walls, are on display in the Freedom Center; and

WHEREAS, the TSA and the Freedom Center are built on the core values of integrity, respect, and commitment, and its personnel stand to strengthen and protect our nation’s transportation systems and ensure the freedom of movement for America’s people and commerce;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize July 2023, as FREEDOM CENTER MONTH in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of our citizens.