Nadler Introduces 9/11 Health Bill; Pushes for Expanded
Coverage in Committee Hearing

Says the federal government “has a serious 9/11 debt to pay”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), whose district includes Ground Zero, pushed hard for expanded health benefits and coverage and a greater federal role in helping the victims of September 11-related health problems.

“I have had to spend the better part of my last five years in public life cajoling the federal government to tell the truth to its citizens about 9/11 air quality, insisting that that there must be a full and proper cleanup of the 9/11 environmental toxins that, to this day, are poisoning New Yorkers, and, for those already sick, demanding that the government provide long-term, comprehensive health care,” Mr. Nadler said in his opening remarks at a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing. “I am hopeful that the change in Congress will finally enable us to shine real light on the Administration's failures, and force it to finally deal honestly with the victims and heroes of 9/11.”

Congressman Nadler also reintroduced The 9/11 Comprehensive Health Benefits Act today, a sensible, easy-to-access and cost-effective way to give comprehensive medical treatment to all individuals suffering from September 11-related illnesses.

While the federal government must increase its support of critical individual programs such as the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Medical Monitoring program, and expand it to others, the amount of money allocated will likely still be inadequate to meet even current unmet needs.  Additionally, the number of people who will contract 9/11-related illnesses is expected to skyrocket to more than ten times the current number in the years to come. Clearly, a longer term approach is necessary – one that won’t be subject to the limitations of the annual budgeting and appropriations process.  This is especially important since many of the victims of the attacks live in places outside of New York and their illnesses will often be late-onset and chronic.

The 9/11 Comprehensive Health Benefits Act, whose companion bill in the Senate was introduced by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, calls for such a long-term program. Importantly, it also establishes a structure to support the coordination of screening, monitoring, treatment and research, with a state-of-the-art clinic located downtown.

The 9/11 Comprehensive Health Benefits Act has two major components:

1. It extends Medicare benefits to individuals with adverse physical or mental health conditions associated with exposure to the World Trade Center attacks.

2. It establishes a consortium of institutions, practitioners, and community-based organizations that would be the federal government’s main mechanism for screening, monitoring, testing and research for September 11 health conditions.

“The federal government has a serious 9/11 debt to pay on two fronts,” said Mr. Nadler at the hearing.  “First, the government must provide top-quality monitoring and health care for those already sick from the 9/11 attacks and the government's willfully harmful actions -- be they first-responders or residents, workers or schoolchildren.

“Second, it must initiate a comprehensive and proper clean-up of all 9/11 contaminated spaces as described by the EPA’s Inspector General in order to prevent future illness and injury.  To fail on either front is a failure of our government to pay a serious debt to the nation.  And to be sure, thus far, the government has failed on both counts.”

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