I was born in Wiliams Lake, British Columbia of Irish and Spanish heritage. I was raised on an 1800-acre cattle ranch in BC's cariboo country, one of the original stopping houses on the gold rush trail. I am a proud Canadian, but have also felt a strong sense of union my entire life with the United States. Our history, values, and dreams are linked by a common vision of freedom and democracy. I was in Pacific Rim National Park, the western most part of North America on September 11th, yet my heart sank and I felt physically ill as if I was right there - I was overcome with all those people at the peak of their lives forced to make the decision to jump or burn. I just want you all to know how much we love you, how we opened our homes to all the stranded US planes that were routed to Canadian airports that day by the FAA. Our former Prime Minister, Jean Chretien is now gone, and our replacement, Paul Martin is a good man who already has a great realtonship with George W. Bush. Our country's military is in rough shape from years of government cuts, if we could have sent troops to help in Iraq, we would've. Many Canadian troops are still stationed in places like Kosovo as UN peacekeepers, still maintaining order in a region that is still volatile but does not make headlines often anymore. Please know that when the battle lines are drawn, Canada will always be on your side to help as best we can. I can also see very clearly now what Islam really is, what Jihad really is no matter who tries to justify its translation, and I will NEVER trust a muslim, I will forever be on the lookout for their subversive tactics, because ultimately, homeland security is up to every citizen of North America. Just one of us could be able to thwart an attack by paying attention. Recall that an attack was stopped on Millenium Eve at the Peace Arch BC/WA Border Crossing by alert custom agents who stopped Ahmed Rassam with handmade explosives in his trunk enroute to the Seattle Space Needle. We must be vigilant. We are united and we are strong!