President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney lead a moment of silence on the South Lawn with White House staff and families of victims of 9/11.

In the United States, Patriot Day occurs on September 11 of each year, designated in memory of the nearly three thousand who died in the September 11, 2001, attacks. Most Americans refer to the day as "Nine-Eleven (9/11)," "September 11th," "Nine-one-one," or some variation thereof.

U.S. House of Representatives Joint Resolution 71 was approved by a vote of 407-0 on October 25, 2001. It requested that the President designate September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day." President George W. Bush signed the resolution into law on December 18, 2001 (as Public Law 107-89). It is a discretionary day of remembrance.

Initially, the day was called the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims Of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001.

On September 4, 2002, President Bush used his authority created by the resolution and proclaimed September 11, 2002, as Patriot Day. He has continued to make similar declarations every year since.

On this day, the President directs that the American flag be flown at half-staff and displayed from individual American homes, at the White House, and on all U.S. government buildings and establishments, home and abroad. The President also asks Americans to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 A.M. (Eastern Daylight Time) marking the first plane crash on September 11, 2001.

History

The bill to make September 11th a holiday was introduced in the U.S. House on 25 October 2001 by Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) with 22 co-sponsors, among them eleven Democrats and eleven Republicans. ^[1]. It passed the House by a vote of 407-0, with 25 members not voting,^[2] and passed the Senate unanimously on November 30. It was signed by President Bush, without ceremony, on December 18 as Public Law No. 107-89.

Its original co-sponsors in the House were:

• Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.)
• Rick Boucher (D-Va.)
• Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.)
• Michael R. McNulty (D-N.Y.)
• Jim Moran (D-Va.)
• Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.)
• John E. Peterson (R-Penn.)
• Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.)
• Ed Schrock (R-Va.)
• Don Sherwood (R-Penn.)
• Ed Towns (D-N.Y.)
• James T. Walsh (R-N.Y.)

Confusion with "Patriots' Day"

This day of observance is often confused with Patriots' Day: a holiday celebrated primarily in Maine, Massachusetts, and the Adirondack region of New York. It commemorates the Battle of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolutionary War and is observed in April.

External links

• Text of the statute
  • Public Law 107-89
  • 36 U.S.C. § 144
• 2001 proclamation
• 2002 proclamation, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• The September 11 Digital Archive
• Detailed information on the bill from THOMAS

References