{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://gottheimer.house.gov/posts/release-ahead-of-the-25th-anniversary-of-9-11-gottheimer-announces-more-than-5-million-in-federal-funds-to-combat-terrorism", "RELEASE: Ahead of the 25th Anniversary of 9/11, Gottheimer Announces More Than $5 Million in Federal Funds to Combat Terrorism", "2026-09-09", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "NJ", "Josh Gottheimer", "G000583", "gottheimer.house.gov", "gottheimer", "https://gottheimer.house.gov/press", "scraper", "Above: Gottheimer unveils 9/11 legislation package.\n\nNEW MILFORD, NJ \u2014 Today, Wednesday, September 9, 2026, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced several concrete actions including more than $5 million clawed back from Washington to Jersey for local law enforcement in North Jersey to combat terrorism.\n\nWatch Gottheimer\u2019s remarks here.\n\nThe new funding will go toward expanding and modernizing intelligence and coordination, officer training, and additional resources to protect Jersey families.\n\nThe resources include:\n\nMore than $5 million in counterterrorism funding clawed back for local law enforcement across Bergen, Sussex, and Passaic Counties.\n\nEvery single town \u2014 all 65 in the Fifth Congressional District \u2014 in Bergen, Passaic, and Sussex Counties \u2014 will receive $50,000 to be utilized for counter-terrorism training.\n\n$1.5 million dollars for Bergen County to expand and modernize the Bergen County Real-Time Intelligence Center.\n\nNewton in Sussex County will receive $200,000 in funding to be able to purchase a real-time intelligence platform to enhance its capabilities.\n\nBloomingdale will receive $100,000 to purchase a response drone and active-threat gear \u2014 ballistic shields, armor, breaching kits.\n\nVernon will receive $30,000 in funding for a thermal search-and-overwatch drone for fast response at any time of day or conditions.\n\nHighlighted the bipartisan 9/11 Review Task Force Report that lays out twenty bipartisan recommendations for the Intelligence Community to protect against the new and emerging threats \u2014 including faster information sharing between agencies, adopting AI to stay ahead of our enemies, and deeper partnerships with our state, local, and private-sector partners to fight terror.\n\nSent a letter pressing the FAA and Secretary Duffy to fully implement secondary flight deck barriers on all commercial aircraft \u2014 the only 9/11 Commission recommendation still not fully implemented 25 years later \u2014 to require the barriers on every plane, including older aircraft already flying. In 2018, I wrote the bipartisan Saracini Aviation Safety Act, requiring these barriers on all new aircraft and it was signed into law in 2018. Years later, the FAA still hasn\u2019t finalized the rule to retrofit the existing fleet.\n\nIntroduced a 9/11 education bill with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21) to ensure that 9/11 is taught in every school across America. Only 15 states require 9/11 education.\n\nIntroduced a resolution, cosponsored by every member of the New Jersey House congressional delegation, formally recognizing the state\u2019s law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel who responded to the World Trade Center attacks and carried out the rescue, recovery, and relief efforts in the days and months that followed. The resolution honors their service and sacrifice, remembers those who have since died \u2014 including from 9/11-related illnesses \u2014 and reaffirms the federal commitment to the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.\n\n\u201cWe all have a responsibility, in honor of those who gave their lives, and for the sake of our democracy, to teach our children, our students, and our future leaders the history of our homeland,\u201d said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). \u201cToday, I unveiled a package of federal action that lays out a series of steps we must take to not only honor those who perished on 9/11 and in its aftermath, but to be prepared to stop any future attacks. With today\u2019s actions, we will keep fighting to protect our state, our homeland, and ensure that a tragic day like that one in September of 2001 never happens again.\u201d\n\nGottheimer was joined by Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, Sussex County Prosecutor Dan Perez, New Milford Mayor Michael Putrino, New Milford Councilwoman Lisa Sandhusen, New Milford Councilwoman Randi Duffie, New Milford Councilman Matt Seymour, Bloomingdale Councilman David Bronkhurst, Newton Police Chief Dan Finkle, Vernon Mayor Anthony Rossi, Vernon Police Chief Daniel Young, Sussex County Chief of Detectives Nicholas T. Elmo, Sussex County Lieutenant Kyle Phlegar, Sussex County Detective Andrew Moore, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, Bergen County Commissioner Germaine Ortiz.\n\nBelow: Gottheimer unveils 9/11 legislation package.\n\nGottheimer\u2019s remarks as prepared for delivery:\n\nGood morning, everyone.\n\nTwenty-five years ago, this week, New Milford lost one of its own.\n\nStephen Dorf (DOOR-F) was 39 years old. He worked as a communications technician for Euro Brokers, on the 84th floor of the South Tower.\n\nStephen was one of six kids in a close-knit family from Brooklyn, and by every account I\u2019ve read, he was exactly the kind of guy you\u2019d want as a neighbor and friend. He was the neighbor grilling in the backyard, the guy who\u2019d give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. That\u2019s who New Milford and Jersey lost on September 11, 2001. Not a statistic. Not a name on a wall. A friend from this remarkable community and our great state.\n\nThe steel beam behind us from the towers, the plaque, this plot of land \u2014 they mean something. Because behind them is a piece of New Milford\u2019s story that this town will never be torn down.\n\nBecause of 9/11, and the havoc monsters wreaked that day, we have memorials like this one across our state and country. I\u2019ve prayed at beautiful memorials like this one more times than I can count over the years. They are both powerful remembrances of our loved ones, a reminder of the strength of our democracy and the flag we pledge to, the indefatigable will of our people, and, in our hours of need, our ability to come together as a nation.\n\nLast week, I was at memorials at the Pentagon, in Lower Manhattan, in Shanksville \u2014 and every time, I think about the same thing: the people we lost and their families.\n\nThe nearly 3,000 souls that day, and the 750 who called New Jersey home. One hundred and forty-seven from Bergen County alone.\n\nI think about the passengers on Flight 93, who fought back over a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, so that plane never reached its target \u2014 the United States Capitol. They literally came together and voted, on the spot, to swap their lives for the terrorists \u2014 to protect us.\n\nI think about the more than 400 first responders who ran into those towers instead of running away \u2014 because that\u2019s what they do, and that\u2019s what they still do, every day, right here in New Milford.\n\nAnd I think about something that doesn\u2019t get said enough: more than 9,000 first responders and survivors have died from illnesses tied to what they breathed in at Ground Zero. That is three times the number of people who died on the day of the attack itself. I think about the 60,000 servicemen and women who gave their lives in or were injured in the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.\n\nFor those of us who lived through this tragedy, where we were and how we learned about the attacks is seared in our memory. But, twenty-five years is a long time.\n\nIt\u2019s long enough that we have college students graduating this spring who weren\u2019t alive for 9/11. We have educators in our classrooms who weren\u2019t alive. 100 million Americans have been born since that tragic morning \u2014 nearly a third of our country. Their only connection to that day is a memorial like this one, a story from their parents, a paragraph in a textbook, if they\u2019re lucky enough to get a paragraph at all.\n\nSo, when we say never forget, we all have a responsibility, in honor of those who gave their lives, and for the sake of our democracy, to teach our children, our students, our future leaders the history of our homeland. Otherwise, TikTok will do it \u2014 and they may say what the most despicable people are posting and what some of our enemies are spreading \u2014 that 9/11 was our fault. I will do everything in my power, and I know you will, too, to ensure that our children learn the truth, honor the fallen, and protect the greatest country the world has ever known.\n\nBut that takes work. In 2004, the 9/11 Commission published a report with clear steps to help prevent another terror attack on our soil. As a result, Congress established the National Counterterrorism Center. We created the Director of National Intelligence. We built a system where our intelligence agencies can escape their silos and share information \u2013 it was one of the great weaknesses that contributed to the attack that day.\n\nTwenty years later, there is still one 9/11 Commission recommendation \u2014 just one \u2014 that has never been fully carried out: secondary barriers, to keep terrorists out of the cockpit on every commercial flight in America. Many of us have been working on that for years \u2013 but we\u2019re still not there, and there\u2019s no excuse for the airlines\u2019 failure to fully meet that demand. And, there is still work to be done to make sure threats are better shared between our intelligence agencies, especially as they develop faster and grow more sophisticated\n\nAs we\u2019ve said, twenty-five years is a long time. America is facing new threats that didn\u2019t exist in 2001, like Artificial Intelligence and the government of China.\n\nFor the past year, I served as Co-Chair of the House Intelligence Committee\u2019s bipartisan 9/11 Review Task Force, with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Chairman Rick Crawford, and Ranking Member Jim Himes. We spent a year in hearings and briefings, grading our own government\u2019s homework: how well did we actually carry out the original 9/11 Commission\u2019s recommendations, what worked and what didn\u2019t \u2014 and how do we prepare for the next generation of threats.\n\nOur report [hold up a copy] lays out twenty bipartisan recommendations to close the gaps for the next 25 years. Things like faster information sharing between agencies, adopting AI to stay ahead of our enemies, and deeper partnerships with our state, local, and private-sector partners to fight terror.\n\nToday, I want to lay out a series of steps we must take to not only honor those who perished on 9/11 and its aftermath, but to be prepared to stop any future attacks.\n\nThe first step starts here, in our communities, and it\u2019s about ensuring that our towns and first responders have the resources they need to protect our families here in Bergen, Sussex, and Passaic Counties. This morning, I\u2019m announcing $5 million in new federal counter-terrorism resources that I secured for every community in the Fifth District.\n\nEvery single town \u2014 all 65 in the Fifth Congressional District \u2014 in Bergen, Passaic, and Sussex Counties \u2014 will receive $50,000 to be utilized for counter-terrorism training \u2014 to be prepared for any threats, especially the new ones. That\u2019s $3.25 million in new training dollars.\n\nThat funding will allow our towns to receive advanced tactical training for responding to active shooters and violent threats. New specialized training will help identify and mitigate threats to our schools and houses of worship, and it will ensure the maximum number of officers can receive this crucial training without impacting day-to-day operations.\n\nWhat worked twenty-five years ago doesn\u2019t work today. We must invest in our first responders so they can protect themselves and our families.\n\nIn addition, to ensure we are prepared and coordinating, we are investing more than 1.5 million dollars here in Bergen County to expand and modernize the Bergen County Real-Time Intelligence Center. That\u2019s the hub that connects more than 70 law enforcement, fire, and EMS agencies countywide \u2014 to better integrate and coordinate emergency response across the county.\n\nThe Intelligence Center ensures that agencies don\u2019t miss a beat when a thief flees from one town to the next, and all hands will be on deck for major events at MetLife Stadium.\n\nAs part of the federal dollars I secured, Newton in Sussex County will be able to purchase a real-time intelligence platform and help existing systems that aren\u2019t connected. Vernon will receive funding for a thermal search-and-overwatch drone for fast response at any time of day or conditions. And Bloomingdale will receive dollars to purchase a response drone and active-threat gear \u2014 ballistic shields, armor, breaching kits. Those are major tools \u2014 major federal investments \u2014 in the hands of the men and women who are the first on the scene when we need them most \u2013 to handle any major threat thrown at them, including terror.\n\nMy hope is that all of our communities and agencies will be able to work hand-in-hand, locally, seamlessly, across the state, and with federal partners. That is so critical and one of our biggest lessons from the original 9/11 report and our review.\n\nSecond, I\u2019m sending an urgent letter to the FAA and Secretary of Transportation Duffy to finally finish the job on secondary cockpit barriers. Years ago, I wrote the bipartisan Saracini Aviation Safety Act, requiring these barriers on all new aircraft. It was signed into law in 2018.\n\nI then helped pass legislation to require the barriers on every plane \u2014 including older aircraft already flying. Yet, years later, the FAA still hasn\u2019t finalized the rule to retrofit the existing fleet. When it finally happens, it will take years to implement. We need the FAA to implement a final rule and get every plane in our skies equipped with a secondary cockpit barrier.\n\nIt makes no sense for flight attendants to drag a drink cart into the aisle when the pilot needs to leave the cockpit to use the restroom.\n\nWe know that won\u2019t work if a terrorist wants it \u2014 studies show that they will literally push over the cart.\n\nThird, I\u2019m leading a resolution this week with the entire New Jersey Congressional House delegation formally honoring New Jersey\u2019s 9/11 first responders. The cops, the firefighters, the EMTs who ran toward the towers, who searched the rubble for months afterward, drawn from all twenty-one of our counties. The ones who helped run the largest waterborne evacuation in American history, carrying an estimated half a million people to safety across the Hudson.\n\nThis resolution remembers them, and it reaffirms our commitment to funding the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for as long as they\u2019re needed.\n\nFinally, this step addresses what I discussed at the beginning of my remarks. With my colleague Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York, I just introduced a bipartisan bill to ensure that 9/11 is taught in every classroom in America. Not on TikTok, but in our textbooks.\n\nWhy? Because if a generation of kids grows up not understanding what happened that day, and why, we haven\u2019t just failed the memory of those lost. We\u2019ve failed the future, we\u2019ve our democracy, and our ability to protect our country. I will not let that happen. Only fifteen states have a requirement to teach about 9/11 \u2013 and, believe it or not, New Jersey isn\u2019t one of them. We should change that today, and, in the meantime, I will fill that gap with bipartisan federal legislation.\n\nTwenty-five years ago, I remember, like a lot of you probably do, watching President Bush stand on a pile of smoking rubble at Ground Zero, grab a bullhorn, and shout back to rescue workers who couldn\u2019t hear him: \u201cI can hear you. The rest of the world hears you.\u201d Out of the worst morning in this country\u2019s history, that\u2019s what America decided to be \u2014 loud, united, and unafraid.\n\nThat\u2019s the New Jersey I know. That\u2019s the New Milford I know. A place where our memory and our pride outlast fear. A place where a guy named Stephen Dorf, who just wanted to go to work and come home to his family, will never, ever be forgotten.\n\nWith today\u2019s actions \u2014 with real funding, a real report, and real legislation \u2014 with the best first responders in the country, the best service men and women, and intelligence officers in the world, we will keep fighting to protect our state, our homeland, and ensure that a tragic day like that one in September of 2001 never happens again.\n\nBecause in the greatest country in the world, I know that if we work together, our best days will always be ahead of us.\n\nThank you. 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