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Cooper: We should remember 9/11, but it doesn’t need to be another federal holiday

AP File Photo/Mark Lennihan / Terrorists hoped to foul the United States economy, often associated with Wall Street and the pictured flag bedecked New York Stock Exchange, with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
AP File Photo/Mark Lennihan / Terrorists hoped to foul the United States economy, often associated with Wall Street and the pictured flag bedecked New York Stock Exchange, with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. AP File Photo/Mark Lennihan / Terrorists hoped to foul the United States economy, often associated with Wall Street and the pictured flag bedecked New York Stock Exchange, with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

By Clint Cooper 4 min read

Remember 9/11, yes. Make it a holiday, no.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, is well meaning in introducing legislation to make Sept. 11 a legal public holiday, saying the country pledged “we would never forget,” but we believe a number of reasons weigh against such an action.

A practical one is the cost. At the time Juneteenth (June 19) was declared a federal holiday earlier this year, Forbes reported the cost of a federal holiday is $818 million. And that doesn’t include pay for the military and for the United States Postal Service.

With a national debt spiraling out of control, the last thing the country needs is another day for federal workers to be paid not to work.

A second is the calendar. The Sept. 11 Day of Remembrance, if it ever became law, would be as close as four days after Labor Day. That means in some years Labor Day would be on Monday and Day of Remembrance on Friday. In other years, one federal holiday would be one week and the second federal holiday the next.