9/11 Families United Again Requests In-Person Meeting With President Biden Following His Meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman
9/11 Families United National Chair Terry Strada notes, “… when you remain silent on September 11, that is not neutrality; it is a deliberate concession to the Saudi royal family, which is well aware of the Saudis’ culpability.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, 9/11 Families United National Chair Terry Strada, whose husband Tom murdered in the World Trade Center’s North Tower, wrote a letter to the White House requesting an in-person meeting with President Biden to discuss the importance of holding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to account for its government agents and government-sponsored institutions that gave the support needed for al Qaeda and the 9/11 hijackers to carry out the September 11 Attacks.
The request for an in-person meeting, which has been made multiple times, was made following the President’s public fist-bump and long meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, who used his meeting with President Biden to lecture the U.S. about human rights and values.
Prior to the trip, Strada published an Op-Ed questioning if President Biden would be the first president to demand accountability for the attacks but reporting from the trip indicated that he failed to do so. Despite the Biden Administration declassifying thousands of documents which have uncovered new evidence demonstrating direct Saudi support for 9/11 hijackers by state-funded institutions and extremists on the government’s payroll, Strada notes that the President’s Op-Ed about his trip to the Kingdom failed to mention 9/11 a single time.
Full text of the letter:
July 17, 2022
President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Biden:
I am writing again on behalf of 9/11 Families United, an organization consisting of victims’ family members and injured survivors of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against our nation, a community that numbers well over 10,000 Americans.
We first requested a meeting with you last summer, in the months leading up to the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. We have subsequently made several follow-up requests to meet and discuss the importance of holding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to account for its government agents and government-sponsored institutions that supported al Qaeda and the 9/11 hijackers who killed our loved ones. Not only have you not met with us, but our requests have never even been acknowledged.
It pains us to say it, but you are the first President since the September 11 Attacks who has not met with the families and survivors. Yet you just traveled halfway around the world to fist-bump Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman where he had the gall to lecture you about human rights and “values.”
We recognize that foreign policy is complicated, and we do not object to your diplomatic engagement with Saudi Arabia in the abstract. But when you remain silent on September 11, that is not neutrality; it is a deliberate concession to the Saudi royal family, which is well aware of the Saudis’ culpability. We strongly believe that you had a duty to look MbS in the eye and insist that he acknowledge that individuals and institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia bear responsibility for the terrorist attacks that murdered our loved ones. It appears from all reports that you refused to raise the issue of September 11, even as you chose to discuss the tragic murder of Jamal Khashoggi. We hope you appreciate how insulting that omission is.
We are renewing our request to meet with you face-to-face to discuss the recently-declassified evidence of Saudi support for al Qaeda and the terrorists of September 11, and to understand how our government will support our quest for justice and accountability from the Saudi government. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Terry Strada
National Chair
9/11 Families United
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About 9/11 Families United:
9/11 Families United is an organization of family members of those murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as many of those who survived, were injured in, or sickened from the attacks—a community of more than 10,000 people. More background and contact information can be found at www.911familiesunited.org.
