President Barack Obama honored the memories of 9/11 victims Thursday, saying that the tragedy demonstrated to the world that “no act of terror could match the strength or the character of our country.”
Speaking at a dedication ceremony for the 9/11 memorial and museum at the site of the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the 2001 attacks, Obama said that “all who come here will find it to be a profound and moving experience.”
The president said the stories of the first responders, the victims and their families enshrined at the site will forever be a reminder to the world of America’s resilience.
“Nothing can ever break us,” he said. “Nothing can change who we are as Americans.”
“Those we lost live on in us, in the families who love them still, in the friends who remember them always and in a nation that will honor them now and forever,” he said.
Earlier Thursday, the Obamas were joined by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bill and Hillary Clinton for a tour of the new museum.
Other attendees at the event included New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.