 "Joe Biden")
By Akayla Gardner and Justin Sink
President Joe Biden said the world is safer thanks to US leadership as he marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“These trips are a central part of how we’re going to ensure the United States is flanked by the broadest array of allies and partners who will stand with us to deter any threat to our security to build a world that is safer for all of our children — something that today of all days we’re reminded of is not a given,” Biden said Monday at a gathering of over 1,000 servicemembers, first responders and their families at a military base in Alaska.
The remarks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson marked the first occasion in 22 years that a US president did not observe the 9/11 anniversary in one of the three places — Washington, New York, or Shanksville, Pennsylvania — where hijacked planes crashed.
Biden spoke about his visits to the other sites. “I join you on this solemn day to renew our sacred vow: never forget,” he said.
Also Read
Biden stopped at the base as he returned from Vietnam, where he traveled to announce a set of new economic partnerships following the G20 leaders’ meeting in New Delhi.
Biden has made protecting democracy a centerpiece of his presidency and reelection, arguing that there are threats to US institutions from home and abroad, and at international events such as the G20 has sought to portray himself as an experienced and steady foreign policy hand.
“It shouldn’t take a national tragedy to remind us of the power of national unity. But that’s how we truly honor those we lost on 9/11,” Biden said Monday.
“We must continue to stand united. We all have an obligation, a duty or responsibility to defend, to preserve to protect our democracy. And always remember, American democracy depends not on some of us, but on all of us. American democracy depends on the habits of the heart of we the people, the habits of the heart,” he said.
Other members of the administration marked the anniversary Monday in the communities most directly impacted by the attack. Vice President Kamala Harris attended the annual commemoration ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The National Park Service is awarding $4 million in grant funding to the 9/11 Museum in New York to mark the anniversary.
First lady Jill Biden participated in a memorial event at the Pentagon, joined by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff traveled to Shanksville for a wreath-laying ceremony.
Biden on Monday quoted the poet Maya Angelou, saying “history, despite his wrenching pain, cannot be unlived. But if we faced it with courage, we need not live it again.”
