On September 11, 2001, when thousands of innocent men and women lost their lives, tens of thousands more came to their assistance. We as a nation saw greater acts of heroism than we could ever have imagined: first responders from all over New York and all over the country came to Ground Zero to save innocent lives, provide proper burial for lives that were lost, and assist in the enormous effort to clean up and recover from that devastating attack on our nation.
Tragically, in the nine years since the attack, more than 30,000 responders and survivors from across the country have required medical treatment due to their exposure to Ground Zero toxins. Now, they are waiting for Congress to pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to ensure that they can continue to get the care they need.
Our 9/11 heroes didn't think twice that day. Bound by duty, a love of our nation and their fellow Americans, they joined hand in hand with heroes from every corner of America to come to our rescue.
Now, it's long past time we came to theirs.
Nine and a half years ago, no one could have imagined that our nation would ignore our duty to the 9/11 heroes.
Nine and a half years ago, no one could have imagined that our country would leave these heroes behind.
But over all these years, this bill has been tied up by politics as usual in Congress.
This should not be a partisan fight. We have an undeniable, moral obligation to provide our 9/11 heroes with all the care they need. In September, the bill passed the US House of Representatives. It's time to keep our promise to them, and pass this bill in the U.S. Senate during the lame duck session of Congress. We can't afford to wait any longer. We've already lost too many of our heroes and loved ones to the toxins of Ground Zero. And we're losing more each day.
On Tuesday, I was proud to stand with several of my colleagues in Congress as well as New York City Mayor Bloomberg and many of our brave 9/11 heroes, to call for the US Senate to act on this crucial legislation this year. Video of the event is below:
I've urged my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do what they know is right, and support this legislation. To that end, I've received support from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bypass a lengthy committee process and bring this bill straight to floor for a vote in the U.S. Senate.
The men and women who lived through and came to our rescue on 9/11 were not Democrats or Republicans or Independents. They were Americans first and foremost and so were the people they saved.
It's time for us in Congress to honor their sacrifices by coming together as Americans, and keeping our promise to provide them with the care they need to save their lives.
Follow Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SenGillibrand
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It is shameful that ANYONE of ANY party would try to block this bill. How can anyone say that they honor the courage of the 9/11 first responders and fail to support this bill?
btw, if only IL's governor had done HALF as good a job at providing an interim replacement for its vacant Senate seat as NY did with yours, Obama's Senate seat would have stayed in Democratic hands this midterm.
Blago should have gone to jail for that alone.
A step in the right direction.
When you are willing to be a part of that 3% club in America, being willing to rush toward the fire not away (if you do not understand that you are not one of the 3%) you should also receive health care because you do put your life on the line. The American party, supporting out hero's everywhere.
NYC has a duty to provide healthcare and compensation for its own employees. They were given millions of dollars that they could have used for that purpose. The city has put up millions to build commercial space to replace the Twin Towers, so maybe they can dig deep and find a few pennies to pay for the healthcare of their own people.
Or, in the alternative, tax Wall Street. NYC has inside their city the people who have looted the rest of the country, robbed us blind, plunged us into a depression. The Mayor can just tax them, get the money locally.
But the rest of the people in this country are broke, and we do not want our government giving anymore money to NYC. That well is dry.
(They came from everywhere.)