NEW YORK, Sept 6: US lawmakers started arriving in New York on Friday morning for a special joint session of the Congress in the city hit hardest by the Sep 11 attacks.

About 300 members of the House and the Senate, some accompanied by spouses and aides, arrived via two special Amtrak trains from Washington for the session. Police presence was heavy, with dogs and officers with assault weapons standing guard as legislators boarded.

Lawmakers said the trip to the city that launched the federal government two centuries ago was a necessary statement from Washington. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to reinforce that support.

Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, presided over the session that was steeped in ceremony and symbolism.

It was held just a few blocks from Ground Zero where some 3,000 people died after two hijacked airliners destroyed the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.

“It’s again showing the unity and the resolve of the American people,” House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican, said of the meeting to take place at Federal Hall in lower Manhattan.

A joint resolution passed by both houses of Congress earlier this year authorized the New York session in “remembrance of the victims and the heroes of Sept 11, 2001,” and in recognition of “the courage and spirit of the city of New York.”

The lawmakers convened at 11am (9pm PST) for an hour-long meeting that will feature speeches by the four leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The members of Congress will then attend a luncheon hosted by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and will close out their visit with a wreath-laying ceremony at Ground Zero.

However, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, wished those colleagues going to New York well, but said he had no intention of joining them.

“I believe Congress ought to be here — working. There is work to be done here,” said Byrd, noting it still has 13 must-pass spending bills to deal with to keep the government running for the new fiscal year starting Oct. 1. “There is work to be done here.”

“There is not anything I can do by going up there,” Byrd said softly. “There is nothing more we can say about our sorrow that we have not already said.”

What awaited the lawmakers in New York was a chance to make history; the session marked only the second occasion in modern times when Congress has met outside Washington.

“This is a magnificent tribute to a magnificent city that has experienced some heart-wrenching sadness,” said Rep. Charles Rangel.

The scene for the session was Federal Hall, with Vice President Dick Cheney presiding. Afterward, members were to walk to the nearby Regent Hotel for a luncheon before laying a wreath at ground zero, where suicide hijackers slammed airliners into the World Trade Center.