Biden marks Sept. 11 anniversary with U.S. troops in Alaska

President Joe Biden delivered remarks for the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, on the way back to Washington from a trip to India and Vietnam.

The president spoke at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson before an audience of more than 1,000 service members, first responders and their families, a White House spokesperson said.

“On this day 22 years ago from this base, we were scrambling on high alert to escort planes through the airspace,” Biden said. “Alaskan communities opened their doors to stranded passengers.”

Biden’s Alaska remarks were the first time he has delivered a 9/11 anniversary speech as president at a site that was not hit in the attack. In 2022, Biden spoke at the Pentagon. In 2021, he visited ground zero in New York, traveled to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and then went to the Pentagon.

Other top officials of the Biden administration and their families are remembering 9/11 at the more traditional sites for administration commemorations. Earlier on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris visited New York City’s September 11th Memorial. First lady Jill Biden laid a wreath at the Pentagon memorial in Arlington, Virginia, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff laid a wreath in Shanksville in honor of Flight 93.

During his speech Monday, the president also called for national unity above division, emphasizing the importance of coming together around democracy.

“We must not succumb to the poisonous politics of difference and division,” Biden said. “We must never allow ourselves to be pulled apart by petty manufactured grievances. We must continue to stand united.”

The administration will also give $4 million to the National September 11 Memorial & Memorial Plaza in New York City, the White House spokesperson said. The funds come from the 9/11 Memorial Act grant program.

On Monday, Biden also tweeted a compilation of moments from his 2022 speech at the Pentagon on the 9/11 anniversary.

“September 11 is a day not only to remember, but a day of renewal and resolve for every American — in our devotion to this country, to the principles it embodies, to our democracy,” he wrote in the tweet accompanying the video.

During last year’s speech, Biden also referred to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and said that “our commitment to preventing another attack on the United States is without end.”

The Alaska stop caps off the president’s around-the-world trip. He traveled to New Delhi for the Group of 20 summit, which focuses on international economic cooperation. Following the summit, he traveled to Vietnam, which has become a significant U.S. partner in Southeast Asia.