NY Daily News- Hil helps Guard troops win key 9/11 provision

Tuesday December 20, 2005

From NY Daily News:

Hil helps Guard troops win key 9/11 provision
BY MICHAEL McAULIFF
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005

WASHINGTON - National Guard soldiers whose 9/11 service was ignored by the federal government are finally getting their due.

A provision slipped into a defense bill by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Rep. John McHugh (R-Watertown) orders the Pentagon to count the service of Guard troops who were called up to serve at Ground Zero.

Until now, only the state had recognized that grim service, meaning it didn't count toward retirement and soldiers couldn't get an Army medal.

"It's a great thing," said Sgt. Norberto Carrasquillo, of New York's Fighting 69th Regiment. "It opens up the doors so now maybe some of these guys will get the recognition they deserve."

The Defense Department had opposed the move, but Clinton and McHugh, members of a House-Senate conference that reconciled the two chambers' separate versions of the bill, were able to get it included.

Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) and Pete King (R-Long Island) had raised the measure in the House, but it wasn't passed in the Senate until Clinton acted in the conference.

"I'm delighted that Congress accepted our arguments for those brave men and women of the National Guard," said Clinton.

Congress yesterday also made good on a pledge to return $125 million in 9/11 workers' comp benefits President Bush had ordered taken back because it hadn't been spent yet.

The Guard recognition is another coup for Clinton, who has bolstered her reputation as a friend of the military as a member of the Armed Services Committee, and last summer was able to save two major two New York bases targeted for closure.

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