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

President Joe Biden addressed the nation Sunday from the Pentagon, calling for Individuals to "arise" and shield democracy on the twenty first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults.

"To all of the households and family members who nonetheless really feel the ache, that lacking piece of your soul, I am honored to be right here with you as soon as extra, to share the stable proper of remembrance and replicate on all that was misplaced within the hearth and ash on that horrible September morning," the president mentioned on a somber and wet morning.

He quoted the late Queen Elizabeth II, saying, "Grief is the worth we pay for love." The queen, who died on the age of 96 on Thursday, used the road in a message to New York in 2001 after the Sept. 11 assaults.

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Biden claimed that "the nation modified that day" however vowed that what is going to by no means change is "the character of this nation that the terrorists thought they might transfer."

The president particularly thanked the passengers aboard Flight 93, who died whereas confronting hijackers on their aircraft, in addition to the Pentagon employees who helped within the instant response to the assault.

"Right here on the Pentagon, which is each a horrific terrorist assault and the command middle for our response to defend and shield the American individuals," he continued. "So many heroes have been made right here. So lots of your family members have been these heroes."

The president closed by alluding to a marketing campaign message he has delivered in current weeks.

"This present day, it's not concerning the previous. It is concerning the future. We now have an obligation, an obligation, or accountability to defend, protect, and shield our democracy, the very democracy that ensures the rights of freedom, that these terrorists that 9/11 sought to bury within the burning hearth, and smoke and ash, and that takes a dedication on the a part of all of us," he closed. "It isn't sufficient to face up for democracy every year, or once in a while — it is one thing we've to do each single day. So this can be a day not solely to recollect, however a day of renewal of resolve, for each American, and our devotion to this nation, to the rules and our bodies, to our democracy. That's who we owe those that keep in mind in the present day."

Biden's feedback got here after a wreath-laying ceremony on the Pentagon. First woman Jill Biden was not current at Sunday's occasion, as she was touring to the crash website of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Her remarks mark the primary time a primary woman has delivered a solo speech commemorating the 9/11 anniversary.

In the meantime, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff took half in memorial companies in New York Metropolis. Each the president and first woman attended memorial companies in any respect three crash websites on the twentieth anniversary in 2021.

Not like many different lawmakers, Biden was not in D.C. on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. He reportedly realized of the assaults in a cellphone name from his spouse, Jill, whereas touring to Washington through Amtrak, and the pair have spoken extensively concerning the ache skilled each by them personally and the nation as a complete within the days following the assaults.

"Unity is what makes us who we're, America at its greatest. To me, that is the central lesson of September eleventh," the president defined in taped remarks for the twentieth anniversary. It is that at our most susceptible, within the push and pull of all that makes us human, within the battle of the soul of America, unity is our best power."