Congressional leaders remember 9/11 on Capitol steps

WASHINGTON – Congressional leaders connected Monday marked the 20th day of the 9/11 panic attacks, holding a infinitesimal of soundlessness astatine the U.S. Capitol arsenic they recalled that little infinitesimal erstwhile nationalist unity prevailed implicit governmental discord.

The 4 apical Republicans and Democrats successful Congress honored the thousands of lives that were mislaid that time successful New York and Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the state “suffered nonaccomplishment we could not fathom and witnessed coercion we could ne'er forget” erstwhile terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a tract successful Pennsylvania.

The leaders spoke connected the steps of East beforehand of the Capitol, the aforesaid spot wherever lawmakers locked arms the evening of Sept. 11, 2001 and sang “God Bless America.” It is besides the spot wherever insurrectionists violently broke into the Capitol gathering successful January to effort to artifact the certification of President Joe Biden’s triumph — a home onslaught that has driven Republicans and Democrats adjacent further apart, successful opposition to the unity Congress recovered aft 9/11.

Ad

Though the leaders did not talk astir the Jan. 6 insurrection oregon existent governmental tensions, they harkened backmost to a clip erstwhile the federation recovered a shared purpose.

“We stood together, united, arrogant to beryllium American,” said House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. “We flew the American emblem successful homes crossed the state to grant the archetypal responders who mislaid their lives, and to observe the undying American values that a cowardly enactment of coercion could not extinguish. That is simply a grounds of however a acheronian hr of American past became 1 of our finest hours.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the state ensured aft 9/11 that “our unity and resoluteness runs adjacent deeper than our sadness,” adding that Americans who said specified an onslaught should ne'er hap again should “remember what it takes to support that promise.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it has been “a agelong roadworthy since 9/11, and our state has changed successful ways we could person scarcely imagined backmost then.”

Ad

Still, Schumer said, “one happening does not change: our work to retrieve and grant each azygous American we mislaid that day.”

The ceremonial comes arsenic Capitol Police are preparing for a rally Saturday successful defence of the insurrectionists who were charged aft the Jan. 6 attack. The country wherever the lawmakers stood Monday greeting volition soon beryllium fenced disconnected to unafraid the gathering — and support retired the nationalist — successful the lawsuit that the protestation becomes violent.

Many Republicans successful Congress person downplayed the severity of the January siege by supporters of erstwhile President Donald Trump, opposing investigations of the onslaught and lasting by Trump arsenic helium repeats falsehoods astir predetermination fraud. It is uncertain whether immoderate lawmakers volition enactment successful Saturday’s rally, arsenic respective did connected Jan 6.

Though legislature leaders avoided nonstop comparisons, erstwhile President George W. Bush — who was successful bureau connected 9/11 — drew a nonstop transportation betwixt home coercion present and the overseas coercion that struck America then.

Ad

Speaking Saturday astatine the nationalist memorial to the victims of Flight 93, who forced their hijacked airplane into a tract adjacent Shanksville, Pennsylvania earlier it could beryllium utilized arsenic a limb successful Washington, Bush warned of “violence that gathers within.”

“There is small taste overlap betwixt convulsive extremists overseas and convulsive extremists astatine home,” helium said. “But successful their disdain for pluralism, successful their disregard for quality life, successful their determination to defile nationalist symbols, they are children of the aforesaid foul spirit. And it is our continuing work to face them.”

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.