This is why 9/11 will probably never be a national holiday

🔴 Many worry the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks is fading

🔴 Bi-partisan bill seeks to make 9/11 a national holiday

🔴 Here's why it probably won't happen

New Jersey and the nation is marking 24 years since radical Islamic terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and flew them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

A generation has now grown up with no first-person memory of that dark day and the gut-wrenching emotions we all felt as America came under attack.

Many fear the memory of that day is fading and the victims of the attacks are being forgotten.

Officially, Sept. 11 is marked as Patriot's Day, but efforts to create a formal state and national holiday have repeatedly failed.

Earlier this year, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, of Pennsylvania, and Congressman Tom Suozzi, of New York, introduced the Patriot Day Act, a bipartisan bill to formally designate Sept. 11 as a federal holiday.

The legislation failed to garner enough support and was never sent to President Donald Trump for a signature.

Promising to 'never forget'

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, there was a public vow to "never forget." It is a theme of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York. It is displayed on countless flyers and memes on social media as we mark the attacks each year.

Congressman Fitzpatrick says the memories are fading.

"The Patriot Day Act is a reaffirmation of our national character, ensuring that the heroism, sacrifice, and unity of that day are never lost to time. Just as Memorial Day honors those who gave their lives in service and Independence Day marks the birth of our nation, September 11th deserves the same national recognition," Fitzpatrick said. "By making it a federal holiday, we ensure that future generations will always come together to honor the lives lost, reflect on the courage displayed, and renew our vow to never forget.”

This is not the first time Fitzpatrick has tried to make 9/11 a holiday.

In 2023, he introduced a similar bill that was co-sponsored by New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. 5th District.

At the time, Gottheimer said, "By formally recognizing 9/11 as Patriot Day, we will make sure that we always honor the memory of those who lost their lives that day — and never give up our fight against terror."

The bill failed to gain enough support for passage.

State and local efforts for a holiday

In 2022, Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas Arnone called for New Jersey lawmakers to create an official 9/11 state holiday as well as a federal designation.

"On behalf of the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners," Arnone said in a news release, "I am calling on state and federal legislators to make September 11th an official holiday to honor the victims, first responders, volunteers and all who were affected by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001."

While efforts to create a state holiday have failed, 9/11 is an official Monmouth County holiday.

County offices are closed and workers are given the day off, with pay, to reflect on the tragedy of 9/11.

Why this probably won't happen

New Jersey lost 750 souls in the attack — more than any state other than New York. Of those, 539 were still technically classified as "missing" when the New Jersey State Police stopped updating a webpage of those unrecovered. The page now serves as a memorial to all who died.

Arnone insists an official remembrance day is needed to help future generations understand what took place.

"Those of us who lived through the attacks of 9/11 will never forget, but we now need to make sure that our children, and their children, understand the importance of this day," Arnone says, "The events of 9/11 should be in every history book in our schools and there should be an official holiday to make the magnitude of this day clear."

Despite the impact of 9/11 on New Jersey and the nation, it is unlikely that an official federal holiday will be declared.

In 2001, Congress did designate Sept. 11 as "Patriot Day," a national day of mourning for the victims of 9/11, but it is not an official federal holiday.

While many have suggested turning it into a federal holiday, there are multiple factors working against the idea.

Historians note that American holiday's typically do not commemorate tragedies, for one.

Creating new holidays is rare. There have only been four in the past century.

There is also an economic factor that plays into the decision.

USA Today reported in 2018 that adding a new federal holiday, with paid time off for federal employees, could cost taxpayers over $430 million.

A growing number of lawmakers have also suggested in recent years that there are already too many federal holidays, and have suggested getting rid of Columbus Day.

It's possible New Jersey could create an official state holiday, but efforts to do so in the past have failed, and for many of the same reasons listed above.

Still, Arnone, says it should be done.

"While our world has changed dramatically, this is one thing we need to stay united on: we need to make sure what happened on September 11, 2001, does not happen again, is always remembered and never forgotten."

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