Architects of homeland security discuss impact of 9/11 at Denver event

Former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman and former U.S. Representative Jane Harman, right, observed a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks during an event on the campus of the University of Denver Wednesday night, Sept. 11, 2013. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Americans' sense of ease collapsed along with the World Trade Center 12 years ago Wednesday. Before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, no federal agency focused solely on safety at home.

Two of the architects of a unified voice on national security, former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and former U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, spoke in Denver on Wednesday night about the aftermath of 9/11 and today's evolving security threats.

The event, "Colorado Remembers 9/11: Looking at the Future of U.S. National Security," was presented at University of Denver's Newman Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with The Denver Post and the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab.

Lieberman and Harman opened on the creation of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which bound together more than 100 different government organizations to form the Department of Homeland Security.

"The legislation we passed wasn't perfect, but under all the circumstance it was pretty damn good," Harman said.

Lieberman recalled missing the last of three breakfast meetings he had planned for Sept. 11, 2001, when he learned that the second twin tower had been struck. He traveled to the heart of Washington to address the escalating crisis, he said, only to find that his colleagues were in disarray.

"There was chaos on Capitol Hill," Lieberman said. "We were totally unprepared for that moment."

The Capitol had closed, but Harman said congressmen banded together later in the day to sing on the steps when the doors were reopened.

"It was a mistake to close them, looking back," Harman said. "How could we close government at a time like that?"

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Architects of homeland security discuss impact of 9/11 at Denver event