Rep. Upton recalls living near Pentagon on 9/11

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- As the world honors the victims of the September 11th terror attack 17 years ago, Michigan U.S. Representative Fred Upton recalls the next day when he arrived at the Pentagon.

"I was at the pentagon the next day it was still on fire they were still hoping to find survivors,” said Rep. Upton.

Rep. Upton has a home not far from the Pentagon and actually cut through the parking lot on the way to his office on September 11^th, 2001 just before the attacks happened.

He says billions of dollars have now been spent on increasing airport security and the ongoing War on Terror have made the U.S. safer but Rep. Upton says this is not the time to let guards down.

"I think we're fortunate that we haven't had something like that again, but we have to be right every single today, the terrorists just have to be right once. We gotta make sure that we have all the tools in the tool box to help prevent that from happening. So far, knock on wood, we've been lucky, but don't think we're out of the woods cause we're not,” said Rep. Upton.

Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives during the attacks 17 years ago.