(Newser)
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On Sept. 11 this year, the names of the victims of the 9/11 attacks will once again be read aloud at Ground Zero, but there will be silence from politicians. The foundation that controls the 9/11 memorial has told victims' families that the reading of names will be "the exclusive focus of the program" this year, and politicians will not be invited to speak, the AP reports. The last decade has seen politicians participate each year, including the current and former mayors of New York City, the governors of New York and Jersey, George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, several senators, and, last year, President Obama.
A number of those lawmakers have rubbed 9/11 families the wrong way in the last year: Michael Bloomberg angered many after saying he wasn't sure if the victims' names should be read now that the memorial displays them; and construction delays hindering the 9/11 museum have many upset with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site and is jointly controlled by Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie. "The National September 11 Memorial is focused on honoring the victims and their families in a way free of politics, and this ensures that continues," the president of the memorial foundation said in a statement.
