WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is still weighing whether to send a Congressional delegation to the Sept. 11 anniversary ceremonies this fall, prompting Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to again call for the delegation on Monday.
This coming Sept. 11 marks the 10-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed in March that Congress send a delegation to New York this year to take part in anniversary services. Pelosi, the House Minority leader, announced her support for such a group weeks ago, but Boehner has remained silent on the issue after his spokesman said in March that he was still mulling it over.
In what was perhaps a subtle dig at Boehner, Pelosi told reporters on Monday she hoped Congress would “perhaps go to New York as suggested" in response to Osama bin Laden's death, renewing her call for the bipartisan delegation.
Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, said the House speaker has not yet made a decision on the matter because “it is still months away.”
In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are planning to allow members of Congress to participate in the official ceremonies to commemorate the day, according to a March letter from members of New York's congressional delegation that first proposed the visit.
Democratic New York Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler joined with Republican Rep. Peter King to make the initial request to Boehner and Pelosi in March, saying a formal visit "would send a strong message to the nation and to the world that, 10 years later, we remain unified."