9/11 Health and Compensation
From 2001 – 2090: The World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
The September 11, 2001 attacks on our country exposed thousands of people to a toxic cocktail at the World Trade Center (WTC), Pentagon, and the Shanksville crash sites.
Following the attack, Congresswoman Maloney began working to establish and fund the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program, which would later develop into the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP), and ensuring compensation for first responders and survivors, by reactivating and restructuring the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF).
Before these efforts were solidified into law through the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, which was signed into law by President Obama on January 2, 2011, Congresswoman Maloney introduced various pieces of legislation and fought for funding each year to provide the health monitoring and compensation these heroes deserve. The 2010 law authorized and funded the WTCHP and VCF through October 2016.
The World Trade Center Health Program was permanently extended, and an additional $4.6 billion was provided to fully fund the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 which was signed into law on December 18, 2015. This authorized the VCF through 2020.
In October of 2018, the Special Master first indicated that she expected the VCF to face a funding shortfall. The Congresswoman immediately introduced HR 7062: Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act to fully fund and make permanent the VCF, the bill did not pass before the end of the 115th Congress.
In February of 2019, the Special Master of the VCF announced that the program would need to start awarding less money to first responders, survivors, and their families in order to make the fund last until 2020.
On February 25, Congresswoman Maloney reintroduced the Never Forget the Heroes Act, HR1327 in the 116th Congress.
On June 11, 2019, the House Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on the legislation and then unanimously passed the bill out of committee the very next day.
On July 8, 2019, just five days after NYPD Detective Luis Alvarez’s funeral, the bill’s name was changed to Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act.
On July 15, 2019, the House of Representatives passed HR1327 by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 402-12.
On July 23, the bill passed the Senate on a 97-2 vote.
On July 24, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi held an enrollment ceremony where she signed the bill to send to the President's desk.
It was signed into law on July 29.
Both the World Trade Center Health Program and September 11th Victim Compensation are effectively permanent, with the WTCHP authorized to operate until 2090 and the VCF until 2092.
More details on the Zadroga Act are available here:
- World Trade Center Health Program participation by congressional district chart
- World Trade Center Health Program participation by state
- World Trade Center Health Program participation map
- September 11th Victim Compensation Fund participation by state
- Brief factsheet on Zadroga Act programs
- Section-by-Section Summary of HR 847 as passed into law
Resources for the sick and injured:
- World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health
- New York City Department of Health
- World Trade Center Health Resources from the Department of Health and Human Services
- September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Department of Justice
For other legistlation and related documents click here.
More on 9/11 Health and Compensation
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Carolyn B.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), sponsor of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act; its reauthorization; the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez September 11th Victim Compensation Act; and the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act released the following statement marking 20 years since the end of the recovery efforts at Ground Zero:
This letter comes as a follow up to the Representatives’ original letter in September 2021 to then Mayor Bill de Blasio
New York, NY – Today, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), co-authors of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act and the Never Forget the Heroes Act, issued the following joint statement regarding the stepping down of Ms. Rupa Bhattacharyya as the Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF).
NEW YORK, NY - Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), original sponsors of H.R. 4965, the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act, gathered with 9/11 responders, survivors, union leaders, and community advocates to applaud the funding for the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) that is included in the House passed Build Back Better Act.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Carolyn B.
More than two decades after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, two lawmakers from New York City are demanding to know when exactly officials knew about the health threats posed by the ruins of the World Trade Center.
Congress members Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler have sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio asking him to release documents showing when exactly former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg were informed about the toxic fumes that were released when the Twin Towers collapsed.
A bipartisan group of House representatives from New York has summoned the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the federal agency that oversees a free health care program for 9/11 first responders and survivors who suffer from 9/11-related illnesses, to Capitol Hill to address problems exposed in a recent NBC News report.
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), sponsor of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act; its reauthorization; the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez September 11th Victim Compensation Act; and the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act released the following statement marking 20 years since the 9/11 terror attacks.
As more anniversaries of the Sept. 11 terror attacks pass, more survivors fall victim adverse health effects.
“The first 20 years after 9/11 were difficult on the 9/11 community; the next 20 years are going to decimate us,” said John Feal, a 9/11 first-responder and advocate.