BY HELAINA N. HOVITZ | On Monday, Congressman Jerry Nadler, National September 11 Memorial and Museum President Joe Daniels, and U.S. Treasurer Rosi Rios unveiled the official 9/11 Commemorative Medal.
Congressman Nadler, along with Senator Charles Schumer, sponsored the legislation that sent two million medals to the mint last August.
If the medals generate enough revenue, the museum may not have to charge an admission fee when it opens in 2012. Over 12,000 medals were purchased within the first hour of going on sale, but Memorial and Museum will need a lot more than $120,000 to cover the projected annual operational cost of $60 million per year.
National 9/11 Memorial fundraising campaigns from private institutions have hit the $400 million mark, and they have received $300 million in federal funding through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, but according to Daniels, it’s just not enough.
“We are still considering a suggested donation from visitors who want to pay respect to those the city lost,” said Daniels. “But we would prefer not to charge an admission fee.”
Echoing Daniels, Nadler said the priority is to assure that the site “rises to the level of the most sacred site in the U.S.”
Nadler said he wants to pass legislation to ensure ongoing funding to the organization, but it may prove equally as challenging, if not more so, than getting the Medal Legislation to pass. In order for the House of Representatives to even consider such a bill it must get 290 signatures just to bring it to the floor.
“The rules disfavor commemorative funding,” said Nadler.
Schumer was a no-show at the conference, but said that the purchase of the medals “allows each of us to continue honoring those we lost by providing financial support for the Memorial.”
The medal’s face depicts a young Lady Liberty holding a “lamp of remembrance” with twin beacons of light flanking her on each side. The other side depicts a traditional eagle, wings outstretched.
Ten dollars from each $56.95 sale will be put towards maintaining the Memorial and Museum. After August 18, the price will jump to $66.95.
Rios said the government would not profit from the sales.
“These medals will help the families continuing to show strength in the face of loss,” Rios said. “They define and tell the story of an important part of our history.”
