Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) joined with first responders, union leaders, community activists and fellow Members of Congress on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol today to demand passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.  This measure will provide needed help to the many thousands exposed to toxins at Ground Zero including 16,000 first responders, and at least 2,700 community members who are currently sick and receiving treatment.  Nine years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, surviving victims still must fight an ongoing battle with health problems stemming from their selfless attempts to rescue victims and clean-up of the site.  

 More than 400,000 people are believed to have been exposed to toxins at Ground Zero with more than 40,000 first responders being medically monitored and 71,000 people enrolled in the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Registry.  This legislation would provide medical monitoring and treatment to victims exposed to the toxins at Ground Zero.  It will also re-open the 9-11 Victim Compensation Fund for economic losses and harm, to replace the current litigation system.   The legislation would cover medical monitoring for those community residents who lived, worked, or were present within a 1.5 mile radius of the World Trade Center that day.   At least one person from 431 of the 435 Congressional Districts was affected by the events of 9-11 and the aftermath.

 Despite the fact that the measure is fully paid for, Republicans voted against the bill in July because they were unable to offer irrelevant amendments to the bill hoping to score political points. The House leadership has vowed to bring it to an up or down vote this month, with the hope that it can be finally signed into law by President Obama before the end of this Congressional session.

 “When my Republican colleagues banded together to vote down the bill in July, using the suffering of 9-11 first responders as a pawn in a political game, I was angry not only for my city and state, but for the whole country.  Since then even more firefighters, more police, more construction workers and lower Manhattan residents have gotten sicker and sicker.  By not acting in the years following 9-11, we have lost far too many of these brave souls who might have been saved if this legislation was passed much earlier.  It is an embarrassment that we continue to leave the growing list of sick 9-11 survivors on their own nine years after that dreadful day,” said Rep. Engel, the senior New York Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health which passed the bill back in March.

 Democrats brought the bill to a vote on the House floor under a system called “Suspension of the Rules.”  This prevents amendments from being added, but requires a two-thirds vote of those present for passage.  Republicans had been expected to add several amendments designed to scare off support by involving controversial topics such as abortion and immigration.  The final vote had 259 yes votes, short of the two-thirds required for passage.  Only 12 Republicans voted yes. 

 “People around the country claimed in the days following 9-11 that ‘We are all New Yorkers.’  Members of Congress and state governments lined up to collect Homeland Security money on the same level or higher than New York in the years following.  Now, too many are claiming that this is a New York issue, or that this is an entitlement.  What happened to the calls of solidarity?  I challenge opponents of the bill to find one person who would choose to suffer the illnesses of 9-11 heroes just to collect compensation.  We cannot help those that are already lost, but we can help the thousands who are sick,” added Rep. Engel.

 “I call on my Republican colleagues to stop the games and vote for the police, firefighters, Port Authority workers, innocent bystanders and the vast army of volunteers who are sick or dying today because of their selfless deeds.  The time has long passed,” added Rep. Engel.

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