9/11 Families United Statement on President Biden’s Executive Order & Ongoing Fight for Accountability
Washington, D.C. – 9/11 Families United, which serves thousands of families and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, released the following statement regarding a new executive order signed today by President Biden that will split Afghan assets currently frozen in the U.S. and create a trust fund to compensate the thousands of victims of 9/11:
“We support the President’s recognition that the harms suffered more than 20 years ago have not been fully addressed, and that the process implemented under his new Executive Order will treat all of those with claims fairly, on equal footing, and in a transparent manner,” said Terry Strada of 9/11 Families United, whose husband, Tom, was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
“If it is handled appropriately, this is an important first step towards finally securing justice from foreign actors that aided, abetted and encouraged al-Qaeda, and we commend President Biden for his executive order,” Strada said. “The U.S. government has a fundamental obligation to use its diplomatic and foreign policy powers to hold wrongdoers accountable. Unfortunately, prior Administrations shirked that responsibility and as we saw with Sudan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, sought to trade away the rights of 9/11 families in exchange for unrelated diplomatic concessions on other fronts.”
“Even as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to spend millions of dollars on high-priced lawyers and lobbyists to try to make us go away, we hope that President Biden will follow though on his obligations and commitments to the 9/11 families. This includes ensuring that the Department of Justice, Treasury Department, and CIA are in compliance with his executive order from last September, which currently they are not. Even as we welcome this news today, the 9/11 community is not going to stop fighting to ensure justice and accountability,” Strada concluded.
For additional background please also see:
About 9/11 Families United:
9/11 Families United is an organization consisting 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 that numbers well over 10,000. More information is at www.911familiesunited.org.
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