Speaker Menin on 9/11 resilience and $1M for student field trips to 9/11 Memorial Museum

So though the terrorists not only killed those that died on 9-11, they tried to take away our freedoms and our way of life.

They tried to proliferate fear.

But quite frankly, they only made us stronger in our love for our city and our country.

We will always remember the tremendous tragedy of that day, of the lives we lost, but we will also remember the extraordinary selflessness that we witnessed.

From the thousands of first responders who rushed into the burning buildings to help people out of them, bridging the gap between human and hero,

to the ordinary New Yorkers who showed up as the sun went down, bringing food, drinks, handwritten notes to workers at Ground Zero.

Whether it's through the memories we pass down, their classes in school, or the field trips they take to the 9-11 Memorial Museum, it's imperative that our children who are not born on 9-11 learn about these stories.

And that's why last week the council was so proud to announce that we

allocated a million dollars for field trips at the 9-11 Memorial and Museum to ensure that Never Forget is a promise our city's next generation will keep alive.

I really want to thank all the members who joined.

It was so moving.

For a lot of the members who were there, they had said that they had never been to the 9-11 Memorial.

They had never been to the museum.

For me, this is something that is deeply personal.

I served on the jury that selected the memorial.

We went through 5,200 and design submissions from 63 countries to select Michael Arad's reflecting absence.

And also, when you go into that museum, you get to hear stories from family members who lost loved ones, or you get to hear about the heroic acts of the first responders,

or literally the kindness of strangers who carried people down.

Flights and flights of smoke-filled stairs on that day.

So really encourage any member that was not able to come with us to please go to the Memorial Museum.

They would be happy to give you a tour, or I would encourage you to go with one of the schools in your district because we just funded these field trips.

And certainly we do not forget history simply because a chapter is hidden from us or a chapter is particularly dark.

If anything, that is the history we must always remember.