Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) released the following statement after the doctor overseeing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, said there may not be evidence to include cancer on the list of diseases covered by the law. 

“It is stunning that since so many of the first responders eventually died from cancer that those who are suffering from this horrible disease no longer will get help under the Zadroga Act. How many more have to die before we finally take care of these heroes? When the World Trade Center was hit, and America attacked on 9-11, first responders and volunteers did not ask what their future would hold.  They did not ask if they would become sick and prematurely die as a result of their bravery.  They did what was right, and they did their patriotic duty.  To remove cancer from the list of diseases is an insult, and I urge the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to rethink this position.  They risked their lives on that infamous day, and too many of them lost their lives as result.  Washington was 10 years late in helping treat the illnesses they suffered as a result, let’s not make things any worse.”

Rep. Engel is a long-time supporter of the Zadroga Act, and an original co-sponsor.  He is the senior New York Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and shepherded the bill through the Health Subcommittee and the full Committee as it made its way towards becoming law.  The law is designed to provide needed help to the many thousands exposed to toxins at Ground Zero, including 16,000 first responders, and at least 2,700 community residents who are sick and receiving treatment as a result of their work at Ground Zero.

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