President Biden will deliver remarks for the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, on the way back to Washington from a trip to India and Vietnam.
The speech, which will be delivered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, will take place in front of an audience of more than 1,000 service members, first responders and their families, a White House spokesperson said. The administration will also give $4 million to the National September 11 Memorial & Memorial Plaza in New York City, the spokesperson said. The funds come from the 9/11 Memorial Act grant program.
Biden’s Alaska remarks are the first time he has delivered a 9/11 anniversary speech as president at a site that was not hit in the attack. In 2022, Biden delivered remarks at the Pentagon. In 2021, he visited ground zero in New York, traveled to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and then went to the Pentagon.
Other top officials of the Biden administration and their families are remembering 9/11 at the more traditional sites for administration commemorations. Earlier on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris visited New York City’s September 11th Memorial. First lady Jill Biden will lay a wreath at the Pentagon memorial in Arlington, Virginia, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will lay a wreath in Shanksville in honor of Flight 93.
Last year, Biden commemorated the anniversary at the Pentagon.
“Here at the Pentagon, which was both the scene of the horrific terrorist attack and the command center for our response to defend and protect the American people, so many heroes were made here,” Biden said in his 2022 remarks. “So many of your loved ones were those heroes.”
During last year’s speech, Biden also referred to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and said that “our commitment to preventing another attack on the United States is without end.”
On Monday, Biden tweeted a compilation of moments from his 2022 speech.
“September 11 is a day not only to remember, but a day of renewal and resolve for every American — in our devotion to this country, to the principles it embodies, to our democracy,” he wrote in the tweet accompanying the video.
The Alaska stop caps off the president’s around-the-world trip. He traveled to New Delhi for the Group of 20 summit, which focuses on international economic cooperation. Following the summit, he traveled to Vietnam, which has become a significant U.S. partner in Southeast Asia.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
