After the sharp exchanges of words between Attorney General Eric Holder and senators about trying the Sept. 11 suspects in criminal court fell quiet, a soft-spoken woman who lost her 31-year-old son that day approached.

Alice Hoagland’s son Mark Bingham died on hijacked United Flight 93 which crashed in rural Pennsylvania and she had come to Washington to attend the Senate Judiciary Committee’s oversight hearing of the Justice Department where Holder’s decision about prosecuting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others was the main subject.

“I take great exception to your decision to give short shrift to the military commissions and to put the five most heinous criminals and war criminals into court in New York City,” an emotional Hoagland told Holder. “It will give these ugly people, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh especially, very eloquent access to all the media sources in the United States.”

That is one of several complaints some family members of the Sept. 11 victims have made. Others have worried that it will make the trials and prisons targets for attack. But some families have welcomed the trials in New York and want the suspects prosecuted quickly.

Holder took exception to Hoagland’s points, gently but firmly telling her that he did fully consider the military commissions as a venue for the terrorism suspects and that Mohammed and the others had tried to use the military commission trials at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a platform for espousing their views.

“This was a tough decision,” he told Hoagland, adding that he is privy to evidence that has not been made public that he believes makes the government’s case to convict the five suspects.

“This is almost a trust me thing I suppose, there are reasons why bringing this case in an Article III (criminal) court when it comes to the admissibility of certain evidence is really the right way to go and really maximizes our chances of getting a successful outcome,” Holder said.

After their five-minute encounter, Hoagland told reporters that while she appreciated Holder’s remarks, she was unpersuaded and even opposed his decision to seek the death penalty against Mohammed and the others.

“Listening to Attorney General Holder throughout the course of this morning into the afternoon has persuaded me that he is a sincere man,” she said. “I don’t think he’s changed his mind and I know I haven’t changed my mind.”

Click here for more Reuters political coverage.

– Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Holder testifies to Senate Judiciary Committee.)

Congress paused on Wednesday to thank the air travelers who possibly saved their lives on Sept. 11, 2001 by fighting back against the al Qaeda hijackers who had taken over their plane.

In a brief ceremony, congressional leaders unveiled a plaque inscribed with the names of those aboard United Airlines Flight 93, who forced the hijackers to crash the plane in a Pennsylvania field before reaching its target, presumed to be the Capitol or the White House.

Hijackers diverted the San-Francisco bound plane and pointed it toward Washington that morning as part of a coordinated attack that also crashed three jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The plaque, mounted near the Capitol rotunda, notes that those aboard the plane “not only saved countless lives but may have saved the U.S. Capitol from destruction.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader John Boehner and other lawmakers read out the names of the 40 passengers and crew, occasionally stumbling over the pronunciation of their names.

Marilyn Johnson, a relative of the plane’s co-pilot LeRoy Homer Jr., said she was pleased by the recognition.

“You know how people say sometimes, ‘Oh, move on,’ but I’m happy that people know that this was a great accomplishment. … We know that our loved ones will never be forgotten,” she told Reuters.

Lawmakers later gathered in a nearby hall to sing “God Bless America,” the song that also provided a brief moment of unity when they sang it on the Capitol steps in 2001.

“We stand in a building that might not be here but for these heroes,” Reid said.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathon Ernst (A flag flies in front of the U.S. Capitol)

Eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government and landowners in Somerset County have reached an agreement that will allow the building of a memorial  to the passengers and crew of  hijacked Flight 93 that crashed into the fields of rural Pennsylvania.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the memorial will cost about $20 million, which includes $9.5 million for the land.

“The fields of western Pennsylvania, where the heroes of Flight 93 perished, are hallowed ground for a grateful nation,” Salazar said.

“We have reached this important milestone in properly honoring the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who gave their lives that day,” he said. “The Flight 93 Memorial will soon stand in their honor.”

The National Park Service signed agreements with eight landowners and expects construction to begin after groundbreaking in November with an eye to completing the memorial by Sept. 11, 2011.

Photo Credit: Reuters/Jason Cohn (Flight 93 temporary memorial)

NEW YORK - Barack Obama  and Bill Clinton talked over lunch on Thursday about the economy and world affairs in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and what the former president can do to help the Democratic nominee defeat Republican John McCain in the Nov. 4 election.

In a joint statement, the two men said they had a “great conversation” during their meeting, which came on the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“They discussed the campaign briefly but mostly talked about how the world has changed since September 11, 2001,” the statement said. “They also spoke about what the next president can do to help make the economy work for all Americans, as it did under President Clinton, and ensure safety and prosperity far beyond the coming the election.”

The lunch at Clinton’s office in New York’s Harlem neighborhood was the first lengthy meeting between the two since Obama emerged as the victor in his drawn-out Democratic primary battle against Clinton’s wife, Hillary. Bill Clinton has been widely reported to have nursed hard feelings about his wife’s loss, although he strongly endorsed Obama at the Democratic convention in Denver and plans to campaign for him in the coming weeks.

“We’re putting him to work,” Obama joked to reporters as he stood with the former president in an office reception area lined with books, photographs and memorabilia.

“I’ve agreed to do a substantial number of things, whatever I’m asked to do,” Clinton said of his plans for campaigning on Obama’s behalf.

Asked for his predictions about the close White House race between Obama and McCain, Clinton said he though Obama would win “pretty handily.”

To which Obama replied: “There you go. You can take it from the president of the United States. He knows a little something about politics.”

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo credit: Reuters/ Mike Segar - Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama and former U.S. President Bill Clinton appear together outside Clinton’s Harlem New York office, following a lunch meeting Sept. 11.