More than nine years after the September 11th attacks, the Senate may be on the verge of finally voting on legislation that would grant health benefits to 9/11 first responders.
The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act would provide billions of dollars in aid and medical coverage to the more than 20,000 9/11 first responders suffering the health consequences of being exposed to toxic substances at Ground Zero.
The House passed a $7.4 billion version of the bill in September. But the Senate version has been held up by a Republican filibuster. New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand announced a revised bill last week that reduced the cost to $6.2 billion over 10 years.
John Feal was a former construction worker. He responded after the 9/11 attacks, racing to Ground Zero to help out. Several days later, he lost his foot working there. He gave a kidney to someone in need. He now suffers respiratory problems. He’s a leading advocate for 9/11 responders and the president of the FealGood Foundation. He’s part of the group of 9/11 first responders in D.C. right now to urge the Senate to pass the Zadroga bill.
There’s been 22 committee hearings in the House, and there’s been one in the Senate. This bill is over nine years old. So, they can’t hide behind excuses anymore, They didn’t like to pay for it, they didn’t like this, they didn’t like this. A couple years ago, the bill was $10.5 billion. Now it’s $6.2 billion. How much more can it go before you really can’t help anybody anymore?
I was doing another large construction job upstate New York. So, I’m in no way a hero. In fact, I went to therapy for a year not to be called a hero. I wound up losing half of my foot. I spent 11 weeks in the hospital with gangrene after 8,000 pounds of steel crushed my foot on September 17th. But my injury pales in comparison to these illnesses that these men and women suffer. My injury is gruesome and horrific to look at, but these invisible diseases, like these cancers and these severe respiratory problems and sarcoidosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and the post-traumatic, which is killing these people left and right, is invisible, and you can’t see it. And we have lost 990 people since 9/11 to 9/11-related illnesses.
Joe Picurro was an ironworker from New Jersey. He was 34 years old when he went to Ground Zero after 9/11. He died in October from his illnesses.
Joe was one of the first people I financially donated to. I went to Joe’s funeral. I’ve been to 44 funerals in the last four-and-a-half years, and Joe was number 43. And just a couple weeks ago in New Jersey, we did an event for Laura, where I put a bucket in the middle of a gymnasium and I took advantage of the people there and I raised about $1,800 in about three minutes, just because I took a white bucket out. And I gave it to Laura Picurro, because as soon as Joe died, Laura’s benefits were cut off.
The bill is half healthcare, and it’s half compensation. And the centers of excellence that treat us would remain open for so many years without a yearly budget, so that it cannot only collect data and monitor us, but use preventive medicine. What a concept. And they could do scientific research for the illnesses that are coming out now. Then the other half of the bill, these men and women who risked their lives without prejudice would be compensated for the financial burden on not having any work over the last nine years because of their illnesses. They can’t even afford to put gas in their car to get to the doctor or go to their chemotherapy appointment. They can’t put food on the table. And, everybody thinks 9/11 happened and it’s over, but 9/11 and its devastation is running havoc through their families secondary post-traumatic, people are getting divorced, kids are in therapy. This is just cruel and unusual punishment.
I get about two or three hundred emails a day on average. And somebody emailed me back in 2006 and said, “I think what you’re doing to help people is great. Can you link me to your website, because I need a kidney?” And he was responder. And I said, “No, you could just have mine.” And he used a bunch of curse words, saying, “Don’t fool around and kid like that.” And I still got the email taped to my refrigerator. And a couple weeks later, we went and got tested. And I wasn’t a hundred percent match, but I could have gave it to him, but there was a chance of rejection. So the hospital said, “Well, why don’t you give it to somebody? We’ll make sure he gets a better one.” We wound up doing a six-person swap. So, in essence, I got to help three people. And listen, I’ve never won Lotto, but that was the best feeling in the world.
I’m just an average guy who believes that you’ve got to help people less fortunate. As Americans, we have extra money, we have extra food, and basically we have extra body parts. I don’t know what happened after 9/11, because everybody was so united. This country came together, and you could smell, not only feel, the love and patriotism in the air. Somewhere along the line, this country lost that loving feeling. And I think it’s because of poor politics and leadership and reckless politics that this country is going in the wrong direction. And this great nation, the tenacity and the resolve and the testament after the worst horrific attack ever, came together, and I’d like to see that happen again. And it’s up to the White House and the Senate and the Congress to start behaving themselves and doing what’s right by the American people, so the American people can once again get on track with their lives and start helping each other.
If you ask the 9/11 responder community, it’s not that important to us—what’s important to us is this bill. This bill saves lives. And, you know, I want to talk about this bill, because this bill is paid for. It doesn’t add to the deficit. It doesn’t add taxes to the American people. In fact, the new paid for helps the deficit, it lowers it. Now, we’re in two wars because of 9/11. Those wars are not paid for. The Bush tax cuts are not paid for. Every bill that’s gone before us and everything that’s gone before us over the last few years is not paid for. We have a bill that’s paid for, and yet everybody still hides behind their ideologies.
– from democracynow.org
How zealous you are for fighting a war with a country where no Al-Qaeda or WMD present. But why you still killing innocent patriotic citizen just like 9/11. Why you ignore?
111th Congress, the Senate approved a $4.3 billion package to help the 9/11 rescue workers. But there is no comments from Bush or other warlords.