Meanwhile, defense contractors, private military companies, weapons manufacturers, surveillance firms, and technology corporations used lobbying, campaign spending, government contracts, and the revolving door between industry and government to gain greater influence over national-security policy. War became increasingly privatized, mass surveillance became a lucrative industry, and emergency powers became permanent.

An entire generation has grown up believing that endless war, pervasive surveillance, militarized policing, intrusive airport security, and diminished privacy are simply normal.

They are not—and they should not be accepted as inevitable.

This is why Move to Amend’s mission matters. When corporations can use immense wealth as political speech and claim constitutional protections intended for human beings, the public cannot effectively hold them accountable. The We the People Amendment would affirm that constitutional rights belong to natural persons and restore the people’s authority to regulate political spending—helping ensure that decisions about war, peace, surveillance, and security are made democratically, not driven by the corporations that profit from them.

The attacks lasted one morning, but the powers constructed in their aftermath have endured for twenty-five years.

Today, we honor those we lost by demanding truth, accountability, peace, and a democracy in which human lives—not corporate profits—come first.

In solidarity and fierce determination,

Alfonso, Jessica, Jason, Tara, Cole, Shelly, George, Daniel, Kelsey, Jennie, Keyan, Greg and Katie