Leading 9/11 Family Members Urge Trump, Clinton, Johnson, Stein to Observe Campaign Moratorium for 15th Anniversary of the September 11 Attacks

NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The organization 9/11 Day is calling upon the principal nominees for president, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein, to suspend all campaign activity on Sunday, September 11, 2016, in observance of the 15^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 Day is a non-profit that successfully led the effort to establish September 11 as a federally-recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance.

9/11 Day delivered letters of request to each campaign headquarters yesterday. The letters were signed by the co-founders of 9/11 Day, family members who lost loved ones on 9/11, and leaders of 9/11 support groups. Copies of these letters are also being sent to the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, asking each to request that all state and local candidates across the country suspend their political campaigns on 9/11/16 as well. The text of the letter can be found below.

The "No Campaigning on 9/11 Pledge" is part of 9/11 Day's mission to promote unity, empathy and service for the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

A growing list of individuals across the country are voicing their support for the letter of request through a Change.org petition launched by 9/11 Day board member Alice Hoagland. Ms. Hoagland, who lost her son Mark Bingham in the crash of hijacked Flight 93, made a personal appeal to the presidential candidates to cease campaigning on September 11. The petition already has nearly 25,000 signatures.

"9/11 helped us realize in an instant how insignificant our differences really are in comparison to our common goodness as human beings and our shared sense of compassion for those in need," said Alice Hoagland. "It hardly mattered what political party we supported, or whether we came from a Red State or Blue State. At that moment, we were all human beings, and it is important that we find a way to keep that spirit of unity alive."   

Rather than engaging in regular campaign activity, 9/11 Day suggested that political candidates take the day to engage in personal expressions of service, and to speak to others in nonpartisan terms about the importance of remembrance on 9/11, and the value of all Americans helping those most in need.   

"Americans everywhere wish to observe 9/11 in the same spirit of national unity, prayer and service that brought our country together in the immediate aftermath of the attacks," said David Paine, president and co-founder of 9/11 Day.

Added Jay Winuk, 9/11 Day co-founder, whose brother Glenn J. Winuk perished in the line of duty in the 9/11 attacks:  "Presidential and other candidates have 364 other days of the year to voice their policies and positions, and trade barbs. We respectfully ask that on this one day, each election cycle, they use their voices to spread the word about the importance of service to honor our first responders and those who were lost. They can set a strong example for our nation by engaging in service-oriented activities.  The focus here should be on bringing people together, not apart, and cherishing our common humanity as a nation."

Join the conversation with #911day and follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. All media requests should be directed to 9/[email protected].

The nonprofit 9/11 Day, (also known as MyGoodDeed) was founded in 2002 to encourage Americans and others to observe the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a day of unity, service and remembrance, in honor of the 9/11 victims, volunteers and rescue and recovery workers. Last year, nearly 30 million Americans observed the day by volunteering, supporting charities and performing simple good deeds. For more information, visit www.911day.org.

Please see below for the full text of the letter.

August 24, 2016

DELIVERED TO:

Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton 
Governor Gary Johnson 
Dr. Jill Stein 
Mr. Donald Trump

Dear Secretary Clinton, Governor Johnson, Dr. Stein and Mr. Trump:

Our nonprofit organization, MyGoodDeed, founded and annually organizes the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance (http://911day.org), established in 2009 under bipartisan federal law and by Presidential Proclamation. Since passage of this important legislation, 9/11 Day has grown to become the nation's largest annual day of charitable engagement, with tens of millions of Americans engaging in charitable service and good deeds in observance of 9/11 each year.

In observance of the upcoming 15^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we are again respectfully requesting that all of the principal candidates running for President of the United States, as well as members of Congress running for office, dispense with normal campaign activity on that day, including ceasing to run campaign advertisements, to enable the 9/11 community and the nation to solemnly and peacefully pay tribute to the 9/11 victims, rescue and recovery workers, and those who rose to defend our nation after 9/11. Americans everywhere wish to observe 9/11 in the same spirit of national unity, prayer and service that brought our country together in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. Please see our national petition, already signed by nearly 25,000 people, supporting this request, at http://bit.ly/nocampaign911.

As you may know, we issued similar requests of the major candidates running for president in 2008 and 2012, and all voluntarily complied, as have many candidates running for other offices. Here's a link to one of the stories about our request from 2012:  http://nyti.ms/2bjVLer

Rather than running campaign ads, making traditional campaign statements, and sending out political messages over social media we ask that you and your staffs dedicate time on 9/11 to remembrance and prayer, and participating in charitable service events and activities in support of the federally recognized September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

We further request that you urge other members of your respective political parties to honor this one-day moratorium on political campaigning as well.

We hope to announce by September 6 that all of the principal presidential campaigns have jointly agreed to this important request.

Sincerely and with gratitude,

Other signatures pending. Petition signatures found at http://bit.ly/nocampaign911

SOURCE 9/11 Day

Related Links

https://911day.org