Dec 28, 2008 11:26 pm US/Eastern
Flight 93 Families Ask Bush To OK Land Seizure
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ―
-
-
Laura and George W. Bush participate in a wreath laying ceremony Sept. 11, 2006, in Shanksville, Pa., commemorating the five year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks which downed United Flight 93.
AP
Relatives of those who died aboard United Airlines Flight
93 want the Bush Administration to seize the land needed for a memorial where
the plane crashed in western Pennsylvania during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Families of Flight
93 sent a letter earlier this month asking President George W. Bush to empower
the Secretary of the Interior to take the land in dispute from a homeowner who
had been in negotiations with the National Parks Service, said Patrick White,
vice president of the families' organization.
The group says ground
must be broken early next year in Shanksville,
Pa., in order for a memorial to
be build for the 10th anniversary of the crash in 2011.
Svonavec Inc. owns one
of the last large chunks of land needed for the 2,200-acre memorial, including
the area where the plane crashed Sept. 11, 2001. Svonavec's treasurer Mike
Svonavec has said the park service has not done enough to negotiate a deal. He
did not immediately return a call for comment on Sunday.
White said Svonavec has
not been willing to negotiate, and called that unacceptable.
"We've certainly
sought to do this within in the process, following protocol as much as we
possibly can," White said Saturday. "It has gotten to the point where
we fear we'll lose significant momentum.
"We have an
administration that has been very supportive of this effort. We just wanted to
make sure the president is aware of what the circumstances are. ... We just
didn't want to get lost in the shuffle."
The White House said it was
reviewing the letter.
"The president recognizes
the contributions of those working to
memorialize the heroes of Flight 93 with a fitting tribute
at the spot where they gave their lives to ensure that others would live,"
Pete Seat, a spokesman for the White House, said Sunday.
Bush signed legislation
authorizing the building of a national memorial to the passengers and crew of
Flight 93 on Sept. 24, 2002.
The
president has twice visited Shanksville,
Pa., to mourn with those that
lost loved ones.
In October, the
National Park Service said it would use an independent appraiser to determine
the value of 275 acres of land needed for the memorial. The NPS also said it
could use eminent domain to acquire the plot if all else fails.
Construction of a $58
million permanent memorial and national park is scheduled to begin in 2009.
White, whose cousin
Louis Nacke II died on Flight 93, said the group would favor Bush giving the
interior secretary or director of park services the power to take the necessary
steps to acquire the land before the administration leaves office in January.
He said the families
understand that the outgoing president has plenty to do in his final weeks in
office. But White pledged that the group would carry its fight to the Obama
Administration, if needed.
"I think the rest
of the family members and I feel there is no point at which we will stop,"
White said. "Whatever it takes. As long as it takes. Whoever it takes. To
do anything less would be doing a disservice to those that we love."
Flight 93 was en route
from Newark, N.J.,
to San Francisco
on Sept. 11, 2001, when it was diverted by hijackers. The official 9/11
Commission report said the hijackers crashed the plane as passengers tried to
wrest control of the cockpit.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Jessica Simpson: Then & Now
Click to enlarge
Mom In Scandalous Sleepover Speaks Out
NRC: Three Mile Island Radiation Not Significant 17 mins ago
Stumble It!
Comments