I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1769 
To authorize a national memorial to commemorate the final resting place 
of those lost at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2005 
Mr. FOSSELLA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To authorize a national memorial to commemorate the final 
resting place of those lost at the World Trade Center 
on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘September 11th He-
roes Memorial Park Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked 
4 civilian aircraft, crashing 2 of them into the tow-
ers of the World Trade Center in New York City, 
causing the destruction of the towers. 
(2) These were by far the deadliest terrorist at-
tacks ever launched against the United States, 
claiming the lives of more than 3,000 innocent peo-
ple, 2,797 of whom died in New York City. 
(3) The debris from the destruction of the 
World Trade Center towers was taken to a landfill 
on Staten Island, New York, for cleanup and inves-
tigation and to continue the recovery of victim re-
mains and effects that could not be performed at the 
site of the towers’ collapse in Manhattan. 
(4) Over the 10-month period following Sep-
tember 11, 2001, more than 1,000 people worked at 
the landfill around the clock every day, tirelessly and 
carefully sifting through all 1,620,000 tons of debris 
from the World Trade Center site searching for re-
mains, personal effects, and evidence from what is 
now considered to be history’s largest crime scene. 
(5) Approximately 20 percent of all the victim 
remains recovered following the towers’ collapse, as 
well as more than 54,000 personal items, from wed-
ding rings and photographs to driver licenses and 
keys were retrieved at the Staten Island site.
(6) The remains of 306 of the 1,423 World 
Trade Center victims whose remains have been iden-
tified and returned to their families were recovered 
at the Staten Island site. 
(7) Victims’ families were brought some sort of 
peace by being given back something personal of lost 
loved ones, whether through a positive identification 
of a victim’s remains or the return of something so 
simple and yet so meaningful as a wedding ring, a 
watch, or a wallet. 
(8) On July 15, 2002, after 10 months, the 
cleanup and recovery operations at the landfill on 
Staten Island, New York, came to a somber conclu-
sion. 
(9) The site commemorates those lost. The de-
termination of appropriate recognition there will be 
a slowly unfolding process in order to address the in-
terests and concerns of all interested parties. Appro-
priate national assistance and recognition must give 
ample opportunity for those involved to voice these 
broad concerns. 
(10) It is appropriate that the site be des-
ignated a unit of the National Park System. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol-
lows: