Biden prices late queen in somber remarks at Pentagon 9/11 memorial

Christian Datoc

September 11, 11:01 AM September 11, 11:01 AM

President Joe Biden dealt with the nation Sunday from the Pentagon, contacting for Individuals to "stand up" and safeguard democracy on the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"To all the people and loved types who nevertheless feel the ache, that lacking piece of your soul, I am honored to be right here with you the moment far more, to share the solid suitable of remembrance and replicate on all that was shed in the fire and ash on that terrible September morning," the president reported on a somber and a rainy early morning.

He cited a quote from the late Queen Elizabeth II, indicating, "Grief is the price tag we shell out for adore." The queen, who died at the age of 96 on Thursday, applied the line in a message to New York in 2001 following the Sept. 11 assaults.

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Biden claimed that "the country transformed that day" but vowed that what will hardly ever change is "the character of this nation that the terrorists thought they could move."

The president especially thanked the passengers aboard Flight 93, who died although confronting hijackers on their aircraft, as nicely as the Pentagon personnel who helped in the immediate reaction to the assault.

"Listed here at the Pentagon, which is both a horrific terrorist attack and the command center for our response to defend and shield the American people," he continued. "So many heroes were produced below. So a lot of of your beloved kinds had been people heroes."

The president shut by alluding to a campaign information he has shipped in the latest months.

"This day, it is not about the past. It really is about the long run. We have an obligation, a duty or responsibility to defend, protect and safeguard our democracy, the very democracy that ensures the legal rights of independence, that these terrorists that 9-11 sought to bury in the burning hearth, and smoke and ash, and that requires a commitment on the component of all of us," he shut. "It can be not more than enough to stand up for democracy after a year, or just about every now and then it can be a little something we have to do each one day. So this is a working day not only to bear in mind, but a working day of renewal of take care of, for each and just about every American, and our devotion to this place, to the ideas and bodies, to our democracy. That is who we owe those who keep in mind today."

Biden's opinions came right after a wreath laying ceremony at the Pentagon. To start with Lady Jill Biden was not existing at Sunday's celebration, as she was traveling to the crash web page of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Her remarks mark the very first time a 1st lady has sent a solo speech commemorating the 9/11 anniversary.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris and 2nd gentleman Doug Emhoff took element in memorial expert services in New York Metropolis. The two the president and first lady attended memorial companies at all three crash sites on the 20th anniversary in 2021.

Contrary to quite a few other lawmakers, Biden was not in D.C. on the early morning of September 11, 2001. He reportedly learned of the assaults in a telephone phone from his wife Jill while touring to Washington via Amtrak, and the pair have spoken extensively about the agony experienced the two by them personally and the nation as a full in the days pursuing the attacks.

"Unity is what helps make us who we are, America at its best. To me, which is the central lesson of September 11th," the president stated in taped remarks for the 20th anniversary. It truly is that at our most susceptible, in the drive and pull of all that makes us human, in the battle of the soul of America, unity is our biggest strength."