The federal government has had difficulty honoring the heroes of Flight 93. Fundraising for the national memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed on 9/11, lags, and the project has yet to break ground. And even simpler honors have so far eluded Congress.

The Gold Medal is the highest honor Congress can grant a civilian. It requires two-thirds cosponsorship in both the House and Senate and is a powerful sign of gratitude for service to the nation. The first medal was forged in 1776 and awarded to George Washington. Only six more were awarded before 1800, all to Revolutionary heroes. Until the Civil War, the Gold Medal was given mostly to war heroes such as Andrew Jackson and Zachary Taylor, but afterwards, notables like George Peabody and the Wright brothers began to receive it.

By 1950, the medal was also going to figures in the arts and entertainment--Irving Berlin, Robert Frost, and Bob Hope. Walt Disney got one in 1968, though so did Winston Churchill the following year. Even groups got in on the act--the American Red Cross, the 1980 U.S. Summer Olympic Team, the Tuskegee Airmen.

An effort to award the Gold Medal posthumously to the passengers and crew of Flight 93 began a few days after the attacks. On September 20, 2001, three bills were introduced in the House proposing that Congress give the Gold Medal to various people aboard the fated plane.

Rep. Marge Roukema's bill singled out just one passenger, Jeremy Glick, who hailed from her New Jersey district. Rep. Cliff Stearns's bill sought to honor everyone on the doomed flight. Finally, Rep. Tom Tancredo's bill proposed awarding the Gold Medal to:

Jeremy Glick, Todd Beamer, Thomas Burnett, Jr., and Mark Bingham; and other passengers or crew members on board United Airlines Flight 93 who are identified by the Attorney General as having aided in the effort to resist the hijackers on board the plane.

This last proposal ultimately garnered the most support, attracting 235 cosponsors--just 55 short of the required two-thirds. The wording of the bill nicely captured the spirit of Flight 93 and seemed most in line with the original conception of the Gold Medal, stating: "The leaders of the resistance aboard United Airlines Flight 93 demonstrated exceptional bravery, valor, and patriotism, and are worthy of the appreciation of the people of the United States."

Tancredo's bill expired with the 107th Congress. Since then, others have championed the cause in various guises, notably Rep. Peter King. Some bills were introduced in the Senate, where they were kicked over to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, which did nothing. Sitting on this committee was Senator Charles Schumer.

In March 2003, Schumer began pushing his own bill, the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act. It seeks to issue posthumous "national" medals--although not Gold Medals--to everyone who died on September 11. His logic, explained in the bill, is that "in the eyes of the terrorists, we are all the enemy, and the term 'innocent civilian' has no meaning."

In the face of Schumer's leveling wind, Rep. Bill Shuster, whose district includes Shanksville, attempted in April 2006 to rally the House to the idea of the Gold Medal for Flight 93. He reintroduced his bill last March. It has only 105 cosponsors and has gone nowhere.