House leaders back 9/11 anniversary panel
By TOM BRUNENewsday
April 1, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The top two leaders of the U.S. House Thursday said they would work with New York lawmakers to create and send a special congressional delegation to Ground Zero on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signed on to the idea after being asked by Reps. Peter King (R-Seaford), Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) and Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan).
An aide said Pelosi supports the idea. Boehner told King he'd work with him on it, a King aide said.
The three legislators Thursday said they had sent a letter to the leaders Tuesday seeking support for their request.
"By coming to New York on the 10th anniversary in a bipartisan show of strength and unity, we can remind the world who we are as a nation," they wrote.
The letter invites the delegation to tour the new National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which opens on the 10th anniversary, and to participate in anniversary ceremonies along with families, responders and survivors of the attacks.