This week I had the privilege of testifying before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Security Emerging Threats and International Relations, Chaired by Congressman Christopher Shays. 9/11 Commissioners, Chairman Tom Kean and Vice-Chair Lee Hamilton began the testimony along with several 9/11 family members. The hearing shed a bright light on how little progress has been made to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations legislated in December, 2004. We are thankful to Rep. Shays, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, and the 9/11 Commissioners who continue to dedicate their efforts to keeping these necessary reforms in the public eye.

Despite the ongoing threat of terrorism, I was shocked by the inertia that has set in, apparent by the fact that only 5 of the 15 sub-committee members attended. It's obvious that we must keep the pressure on our government officials to make sure the safety of our country is a priority. We have included below a summary of the hearing as well as links to some of the testimonies including Carol Ashley and Frank Fetchet.

On a positive note, it was encouraging to hear that arrests were made in Canada and Europe to counter a potential terrorist plot. It is obvious that the heightened focus by all Western governments are helping against this serious threat.

In closing, next Friday modifications to the current design of "Reflecting Absence" will be announced. Over the past several weeks we have met with Frank Sciame and others to discuss the families' concerns about the memorial, including: The location and order of names, access to the footprints of both buildings, and a private place for families to reflect where the unidentified remains rest. We continue to advocate for an appropriate Memorial that will honor the lives lost and tell the story of 9/11. It must inspire all people for generations to come.

We will keep you informed as information becomes available, and let you know how to add your input on the Memorial re-design.

Warm Regards,

Mary Fetchet

VOICES additional teleconference group for Parents of 9/11 victims held its first meeting but is seeking new members. This will group will meet Wednesdays from
3:15-4:15 pm EST, every other week. Please contact us to join before the next meeting on Wednesday, June 14.

VOICES still has openings for the "Significant Others" teleconference support group open to males and females who were in a serious relationship with a 9/11 victim but were not married, such as those who were living together, domestic partners, or engaged. The group's next meeting is Monday, June 12, 2006 at 11:00 am EST

VOICES teleconference groups are offered free of charge but registration is required. Teleconference groups are always open to new members. Check the teleconference group schedule and see which one works best for you. Interested individuals should call VOICES at (866) 505-3911 or (203) 966-3911 for more information.

Last month the members of VOICES Parents teleconference group decided that they would like to meet in person. Participants looked at their calendars and picked Tuesday, June 6th to come together. Six group members traveled from Queens, Brooklyn, New Jersey and South Carolina to the VOICES office in New Canaan.

They had a quick tour of the office and met some of our staff. They also enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Gates Restaurant and a stroll through town. Then they had their usual group with Judy Stotz, LPC, facilitating, but held the meeting face-to-face for the first time. The group showed pictures of their loved ones and shared whatever they were passionate about. There were hugs and handholding, building on a bond that already existed via the teleconference.

We at Voices would like to invite other teleconference groups to meet in-person at our office during office hours. If interested, please speak to your facilitator during the teleconference group.

STORYCORPS IN ROCKLAND COUNTY NEEDS PARTICIPANTS FOR SATURDAY, JUNE 17

Following their highly successful visit to our New Canaan Office, StoryCorps will visit Rockland County, NY next month to record interviews with more VOICES families. StoryCorps need additional participants to record on Saturday, June 17 at the office of Hospice of Rockland County, 11 Stokum Lane in New City, NY. Reservations are required. For more information or to make a reservation please contact VOICES at (866) 505-3911 or (203) 966-3911. Each interview will take approximately one hour.

Saturday, June 17th, 2006
Time: 11 am - 1:30 pm
Location: World Trade Center Site (Church St. Between Dey And Fulton St.)

Info: Come rally with Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes at Ground Zero. Together with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and other public officials, leaders of labor unions, health and safety advocates, community residents and employees, we will demand a solid commitment to fund long-term health monitoring and treatment, and to address the many health-related needs linked to Ground Zero pollution. Read the Event Flyer.

Friday, June 25th, 2006
Time: 6:30pm

Location: St. Mark's Church, Second Avenue and Tenth Street, NYC
Contact: Les at (718) 492-2192

Click here to watch an NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams report on "Health of World Trade Center Workers"

Click here to watch a New York Times video on the masks that could have reduced the harm to Ground Zero workers, and the ongoing litigation claims against New York City.

Click for a list of ongoing medical offerings for Ground Zero workers (.pdf)

When: June 16, 2006, 7pm - Midnight
Location: Riccardo’s by the Bridge, Astoria, New York

Please join us for an evening of Dinner and Dancing, honoring our Scholarship Winners and the memory of our son, Christopher, who lost his life with so many of his Brother Firefighters on September 11, 2001. Our 2006 Man of the Year and special guest is Congressman Joseph Crowley, who was so instrumental in obtaining the Medal of Valor for our fallen loved ones. Please come out to show your appreciation for his hard work on our behalf.

When: Monday, June 12, 2006
Where: New York Country Club, New Hempstead, NY
Contact: Bill Bosco, Jr., email: billyb2000@aol.com, (914) 522-3233
Information: Visit the event website and registration form

Non-golfers have the option to attend the event dinner only. Hole sponsorship and other giving opportunities are available.

Please join us in celebrating Todd’s life and helping other children in his name. The Yankees are away, and in addition to our usual family fun and fundraising, this special day will include a barbeque in Monument Park, exciting activities for children—including guests from Kidville, NY and Pro Swing—plus stadium tours for everyone. Special Raffle: Todd’s very own New York Yankees Saturday subscription for two for the 2007 season.

9/11 Commission Chair Tom Kean and Vice-Chair Lee Hamilton testified before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations on the progress of their recommendations for government reform Tuesday. They were joined by 9/11 Family Members, including VOICES founding director Mary Fetchet in advocating for Congressional action on securing borders and ports, interoperable first responder communications, risk-based homeland security funding, and other important issues. "There is still a great deal we have to do and haven't done to protect the American people," said Kean, as quoted in an ABC News report.

The 9/11 family members reinforced the Commissioners' calls for fast action and reminded the subcommittee's members of the human face of Homeland Security policy. Unfortunately, of the Subcommittee's 15 members, only 5 attended the hearing, a disappointing reflection of the priorities in Congress regarding America's security. "The report card was released by the 9/11 Commission almost six months ago, and we're hearing from them that really not much has changed since the report card came out," said Ms. Fetchet, as quoted in a Voice of America article. The photo at left shows Ms. Fetchet at a press conference before the hearing with Rep. Shays in the background. Click the links below for the texts of testimony offered to the subcommittee from 9/11 Family Members Mary Fetchet, Frank Fetchet, Carol Ashley and Commissioners Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton.

Kean and Hamilton criticized the Department of Homeland Security for for cutting security funding to New York City and Washington, D.C. by 40% this year. "There are two cities that [Osama] Bin Laden has said - before 9/11 and after 9/11 - that he wants to hit ... and that's Washington and New York," said Kean, quoted in the NY Daily News. "So it defies any kind of logic that they don't have the vast majority of the funds."

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, created by Congress in response to a Commission recommendation, was also high on the agenda. Kean and Hamilton both called for more the Board to be given more power to conduct investigations into controversial counter-terrorism and surveillance programs. "If the board does not have the power to get information they need, then there might as well not be a board," Hamilton said, as quoted in the Staten Island Advance. The Board was defended by its Chairwoman Carol Dinkins, who claimed that the Board was just starting operations and has yet to investigate many issues. She said the Board expects full cooperation from the administration and, furthermore, does not require subpoena power because it will only review executive branch actions and offer advice; it will not veto, delay or order remedies for administration programs.

The British Memorial Garden, honoring the 67 British victims of the attacks on 9/11, began construction on May 19, 2005 in Hanover Square in lower Manhattan (see map). After a competition that included twelve of Britain’s most acclaimed artists, sculptor Anish Kapoor designed the winning sculpture that will serve as the focal point of the memorial. His plans call for a twenty foot sculpture to be carved from a block of pure granite that will sit on the southern end of the park. Also included in the British Memorial Garden will be a specially engraved stone, crafted by sculptor Simon Verity, depicting the countries of the British Isles.

The construction site received two special visitors on November 1, 2005, when Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwell arrived to dedicate the stone that will sit in the center of the garden. The British Memorial Garden also celebrates the strong historical and cultural ties between the British and American peoples. More information regarding the British Memorial Garden and ways you can support this wonderful tribute please visit their website.

When the revised plans for the WTC Memorial are announced next week, new Memorial boss Frank Sciame is likely to recommend moving the names in the proposed World Trade Center memorial up to street level, and may suggest eliminating the waterfalls to save money, according to sources quoted in Downtown Express Coverage. Moving the names above ground will save money because it will require building less public space underground. The move would also placate 9/11 Family Members who have objected to having names written underground either for religious or symbolic reasons.

Sciame was appointed by Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg on May 17 to figure out a way to bring the memorial costs down to $500 million. He has been meeting with officials with the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and the WTC Memorial Foundation, architects, as well as with family members and residents on L.M.D.C. advisory panels. His report on changes in the design is due June 15. Other issues yet to be resolved are whether the $500 million price cap will include infrastructure costs, how much of the slurry wall will be exposed for viewing, and plans for the Memorial Museum. There is optimism that Sciame's leadership will produce a workable plan for the Memorial. "The [WTC Memorial] Foundation is committed to the best interests of the memorial and museum, which means building them in the most expedient and affordable way," foundation spokeswoman Lynn Rasic said this week, as quoted in the New York Daily News. She added, "We believe that the Sciame process will help make sure that happens."

Canadian authorities will charge 12 Muslim men and five youths for a variety of terrorism charges after foiling what they describe as a plot to blow up landmark buildings in the province of Ontario as well as a plan to stage violent attacks that included seizing Parliament and beheading Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The accusations have been deeply troubling in Canada, which has a large Muslim population but has little experience with domestic terrorism. The accused plotters, many of who belonged to the same mosque outside Toronto, purportedly planned the attacks to punish Canada for its participation in the U.S. led invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. "Canadians have to understand and appreciate that we are citizens of a world where danger is everywhere," Peter Van Loan, a member of Parliament from Ontario, is quoted in the New York Times. "We're not exempt from that, much as we might wish we were."

All of the men have been charged with belonging to a terrorist group, according to court documents. Six are accused of plotting to bomb several unidentified buildings in Canada. Others are charged with running training camps, receiving terrorist training and trying to smuggle weapons across the border from the United States. Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, is the eldest of the men and authorities consider to be their leader. None have known connections to al-Qaeda. Various Canadian counter-terrorism agencies had been monitoring the group for some time on internet message boards and moved in to make the arrests on Friday after members arranged to take delivery of three tons of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be made into a powerful bomb when mixed with fuel oil. In April, 1995, Timothy McVeigh destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City using only one ton of ammonium nitrate.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Saturday that there were contacts between two of the suspects arrested in Canada and two men living in Georgia who were recently arrested. But the bureau reiterated in a statement yesterday that "there is no current outstanding threat to any targets on U.S. soil emanating from this case," according to New York Times coverage. But the U.S. has stepped up security along the 3,983 mile long border stretching from Washington to Maine, according to Toronto Sun coverage. Counter-terrorism experts are also concerned that the plot, hatched in Canada by Canadian citizens without direct support from al-Qaeda, is evidence of a shift to "homegrown" terrorism. "Understanding why these indigenous jihadist cells emerge and how they operate now appears to be the face of the next chapter of the global war on terrorism," experts Aiden Kirby and Shawn Brimley write in a Boston Globe Op-Ed.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the U.S.-led coalition's most wanted man in Iraq was killed Wednesday in an Air Force attack on a safe house near Baquba, giving Iraq a chance to "turn the tide" in the fight against the nation's insurgency, President George W. Bush said, as quoted in CNN coverage. "The ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders," Bush added. "Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al Qaeda."

But it is unclear how much effect Zarqawi's demise will have on the struggle to secure Iraq. "Zarqawi's death will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important step in the right direction," the American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, is quoted in the New York Times. Khalilzad added: "There will be difficult days ahead... I call on Iraq's various communities to take responsibility for bringing sectarian violence to an end, and for all Iraqis to unite" behind the government of Iraq's prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

For their part, al-Qaeda in Iraq quickly posted a message on an Islamist website vowing to continue the struggle against Coalition forces and the Iraqi government. "We tell our prince, Sheik bin Laden, your soldiers in Al Qaeda in Iraq will continue along the same path that you set out for Abu Musab Zarqawi. The death of our leaders is life for us and only makes us more determined to continue the jihad..." as reported in the Los Angeles Times.