Emotions Flow After Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Bill To Extend 9/11 Victims Fund: ‘Today Is That Day That They Can Exhale’
The legislation would ensure that the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is funded for the next seven decades at a cost of $10.2 billion over the next 10 years. Emotions were high in recent weeks after comedian Jon Stewart shamed Congress for how it treated the first responders. “The country has moved on, and rightfully so,” said Michael O’Connell, a retired lieutenant with the New York Fire Department. But “it’s in front of our eyes,” he added. “We’re in hospices. We’re seeing people pass away right in front of our very eyes.”
The New York Times:
9/11 First Responders Fund Clears Senate And Heads To Trump
Thousands of emergency workers who rushed to the rubble of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks will be granted health care and other compensation for the rest of their lives. The Senate on Tuesday gave final approval to legislation that would care permanently for those who have grown deathly ill from the toxins of ground zero. White House officials said President Trump was expected to sign it. Even before the Senate’s 97-to-2 vote was gaveled to a close, retired New York firefighters and police officers, advocates and Jon Stewart, the comedian who championed the legislation, had leapt to their feet in the usually hushed chamber to lead a standing ovation. (Cochrane, 7/23)
The Associated Press:
Senate Approves Bill To Extend 9/11 Victims Fund
The bill would extend through 2092 a fund created after the 2001 terrorist attacks, essentially making it permanent. The $7.4 billion fund is rapidly being depleted, and administrators recently cut benefit payments by up to 70%. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the House-passed bill would result in about $10.2 billion in additional compensation payments over 10 years, including more than $4 billion for claims already filed. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the bill guarantees "once and for all that the heroes who rushed to the towers 18 years ago will no longer have to worry about compensation for their families when they're gone." (7/23)
CNN:
Congress Passes 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Extension Championed By Jon Stewart
The original fund from 2001 to 2004 distributed over $7 billion to compensate the families of over 2,880 people who died on 9/11 and 2,680 individuals who were injured, according to the Justice Department. In 2011, Congress reactivated the fund and in 2015 reauthorized it for another five years, appropriating $7.4 billion to aid thousands more people. The fund was set to stop taking new claims in December 2020. (Rogers, 7/23)
NPR:
Sept. 11 Victims Fund Extension Passes Senate, Goes To President
In February, Rupa Bhattacharyya, who heads the fund, said it would soon expend the amount of its appropriation, $7.375 billion, in light of a surge in new claims. She said that the fund had paid out some $5 billion to more than 21,000 claims. At that point, she said that the fund would have to make "significant reductions in awards," adding that she was "painfully aware of the inequity of the situation." (Kennedy, 7/23)
The Washington Post:
Senate Votes To Extend 9/11 Victims Fund For First Responders Who’ve Become Sick Since 2001 Attacks
Wearing a blue firefighter T-shirt, Stewart said Feal and other advocates “lifted this 9/11 community on their shoulders, and they carried them home, and I will always be so proud to be associated with it. . . . There have been too many funerals, too many hospices. These families deserve better. ”The moment was bittersweet, Feal said. “We’re not celebrating, we’re not spiking a football,” he said. “Too many people are dying or have died.” (Barrett and Epstein, 7/23)
NBC News:
'Put Down Your Swords': Senate Passes Bill Ensuring 9/11 Victims Fund Will Never Run Out Of Money
Feal also thanked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who advocates charged had slowed down earlier versions of the bill, for getting the bill to the floor. "He kept his word to me," Feal said. (Gregorian and Thorp, 7/23)
Rolling Stone:
Jon Stewart Delivers Emotional Address After 9/11 Victim Bill Passes
“We can never repay all that the 9/11 community has done for our country, but we can stop penalizing them,” [Stewart] said. “And today is that day that they can exhale. Unfortunately, the pain and suffering of what these heroes continue to go through is going to continue. There have been too many funerals, too many hospices, and these families deserve better. I’m hopeful that today begins the process of being able to heal without the burden of having to advocate.” (Bort, 7/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Passes Bill Securing 9/11 Compensation Fund
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who pushed to get the legislation passed in the Senate, said the bill was “for every person who spent days, weeks and months on the pile, and has had to suffer physical and mental scars for years because of that heroic work.” The bill had been approved overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives this month, and Mr. Trump is expected to sign it. “This was a tremendous victory today, but it’s bittersweet,” said Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), a co-sponsor of the bill who noted the unknown number of people who could become sick in the future and the many first responders who died or are sick because of their work. (Naranjo, 7/23)
USA Today:
Senate Approves Financial Lifeline For 9/11 First-Responders
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, were the only two senators to vote against the bill. The two senators offered amendments to the bill Tuesday that would have limited how much federal taxpayers would cover compensation costs. Both amendments were defeated by large margins. (King and Wu, 7/23)
The Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah Sen. Mike Lee Votes Against 9/11 First Responders Bill After Losing Bid To Limit Spending
Lee, a Utah Republican, had held up the bill while attempting to curtail the expansion to only what is needed in the next decade. His amendment, shot down by a 32-66 vote, would have given $10.18 billion to the fund in the next 10 years and another $10 billion after that. (Burr, 7/23)
Kaiser Health News:
Why It’s So Hard To Predict How Much Funding 9/11 First Responders Need
The idea of getting cancer from searching through the rubble of Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks — and then standing guard over it for months — didn’t occur to Kevin Zweigbaum. It did cross his mind that the swirling dust and fumes from the shattered World Trade Center might be unhealthy. Now retired, the New York City police sergeant vividly remembers raising the idea with workers from the Environmental Protection Agency who were at the site. (McAuliff, 7/23)
