It’s not enough to defend democracy once a year, Biden says on 9/11

US President Joe Biden delivered a speech on the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at an event this Sunday (11) at the Pentagon in honor of the dead.

“I know that for all those who have lost someone, 21 years is a lifetime and it’s no time at all,” Biden said at the National Pentagon’s 9/11 Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. “It’s good to remember. These memories help us to heal, but they can also open up the pain and take us back to that time when the pain was so raw.”

The president spoke of a message sent to the American people on September 11, 2001, by the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday, recalling that she “pointedly reminded us, citing: ‘Grief is the price we pay. for love’.””

As he has in several recent speeches, Biden spoke on Sunday about securing American democracy. But he has softened his rhetoric and avoided some of the more politically charged statements he has made in the run-up to the midterm elections.

“It is not enough to defend democracy once a year or once in a while. It’s something we have to do every day,” the president said. “So this is a day not just to remember, but a day of renewal and determination for every American and our devotion to this country.”

Nearly 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks, orchestrated by Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Biden in his speech also highlighted the assassination of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike earlier this year, saying the US “will not rest, we will never forget, we will never give up”.

“And now Zawahiri can never again threaten the American people,” the president said.

Before the speech, Biden attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon, pausing briefly in front of a ceremonial wreath to touch it and then placing his hand over his heart. He was joined at the event by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

The White House previously announced that participants in the president’s comments at the Pentagon’s National 9/11 Memorial included “family members of the dead, first responders, representatives of first responder groups, and Department of Defense leadership.”

plan for families

Biden also said Sunday morning in Delaware that he has “a plan” for the families of 9/11 victims.

Responding to questions from reporters before boarding Air Force One to travel to Washington, D.C., Biden, when asked if he had a plan to deal with the families of 9/11 victims who want justice after the terrorist attacks, responded: “ Yes, there is a plan for that”, without going into details.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris met with family members who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks after arriving at the National 9/11 Memorial in New York. Harris, who attended a memorial service at Ground Zero, also met with first responders, according to a White House official.

And First Lady Jill Biden is making comments Sunday at a 9/11 memorial service in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The first lady will be joined by her sister, Bonny Jacobs, her communications director Elizabeth Alexander told CNN. Jacobs is a flight attendant for United Airlines.