Information on Veterans Data

Support the Troops

Bond Announces Millions for Disaster Recovery

Bond Praises FISA Reform

Bond Blasts Retreat and Defeat Iraq Strategy

Bond Works to Protect Military Heroes

Bond Votes to Kill Amnesty Bill

Bond Clarifies Phase II Report on Prewar Intelligence

Bond Announces $3 Billion in Agriculture Assistance

Water Resources Bill Passes Senate

Bond Surveys Flood Damage

Bond Returns from Iraq

Bond Continues Tour of Vets Facilities

Pentagon's Pre-War Intelligence Legit

National Guard Empowerment Legislation

Kit Pics

Kit on the Issues

Latest Press Releases

Thursday, December 6, 10:30 AM

Bond Writes September 11th Historic Act for Future American Generations

Senator Kit Bond today announced that he will introduce legislation this week to authorize the Smithsonian Institution to serve as the central, national conservator for artifacts and evidence related to the September 11th terrorist strikes so future generations of Americans will never forget the worst attack on U.S. soil in more than 100 years.

"This was also an attack on future generations of Americans who deserve to know why and how America changed on September 11th, 2001," said Bond. "We must not forget how we as a nation felt on that day. It will serve as a reminder to future generations that freedom is not free. Nor is it without risk and enemies."

Bond's legislation will authorize a $5 million project at the Smithsonian Museum of American History for the collection and preservation of artifacts related to the attacks. Such artifacts that may merit consideration for preservation include but are not limited to: pieces of the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the vast collections of still and video images made by private individuals and the media, personal narratives of survivors, rescuers and government officials and other artifacts, recordings or testimonials deemed to have lasting historical significance.

"We must act now before key artifacts, memories and emotions are lost to time," said Bond. "The September 11th attacks were acts of enormous historical significance, the full consequences of which have yet to be understood fully. We need to begin collecting now the material future historians will use to help explain this event for generations to come."

The Smithsonian Institution is an independent trust instrumentality of the United States. One of the main purposes of the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History is to show the evolution of the American identity.

"The scale and magnitude of the September 11th, 2001, attacks were so large as to influence the American identity in ways that only future historians will be able to describe," said Bond. "The collection of first-hand accounts and artifacts from the attacks will help future historians fulfill their roles as interpreters of the past."

Read about Senator Bond's unveiling of the exhibit.