On September 14, 2001, three days after New York City’s Twin Towers were leveled by two hijacked airliners... Congress met to consider President George W. Bush’s request to wage war against the perpetrators. On the floor of Congress, speaker after speaker echoed the hurt, outrage, anger, and shock of a wounded nation. A flood of countrywide sentiment demanded action. Every single member of Congress—the House and the Senate—concurred. Almost. The vote in the House on the expanded wars act was 420 to 1. At this time of crisis, when there was much pain alongside many acts of heroism, one stood alone. Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California’s 13th District... voted against war. As Lee addressed Congress that fateful day, she spoke from her conscience, from her heart. She warned... “Let us not act so that we become the evil that we deplore.” ...For her calm, measured act of reason, which proved prescient, Lee received a torrent of harsh criticism, cruel words, and death threats. For the following weeks, she had to be blanketed by Secret Service agents for protection... This singular, lonely act of courage helped define Congresswoman Barbara Lee. But it should not overshadow a remarkable life and exemplary career both before and after her stand alone.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "On September 14, 2001, three days after New York City’s Twin Towers were leveled by two hijacked airliners... Congress met to consider President George W. Bush’s request to wage war against the perpetrators. On the floor of Congress, speaker after speaker echoed the hurt, outrage, anger, and shock of a wounded nation. A flood of countrywide sentiment demanded action. Every single member of Congress—the House and the Senate—concurred. Almost. The vote in the House on the expanded wars act was 420 to 1. At this time of crisis, when there was much pain alongside many acts of heroism, one stood alone. Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California’s 13th District... voted against war. As Lee addressed Congress that fateful day, she spoke from her conscience, from her heart. She warned... “Let us not act so that we become the evil that we deplore.” ...For her calm, measured act of reason, which proved prescient, Lee received a torrent of harsh criticism, cruel words, and death threats. For the following weeks, she had to be blanketed by Secret Service agents for protection... This singular, lonely act of courage helped define Congresswoman Barbara Lee. But it should not overshadow a remarkable life and exemplary career both before and after her stand alone." in the context of "New documentary film on Congresswoman Barbara Lee: She speaks for me!, by Michael Berkowitz, People's World (13 July 2020)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.