by LET Staff, June 12, 2019, lawenforcement.com
Finally! After lengthy debates, gut-wrenching testimony from first responders and a public shaming by Jon Stewart, the bill that permanently authorizes funding for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund was passed unanimously by the House panel on Wednesday.
This is a major win for everyone affected by the horrific terror attacks that have taken thousands of lives since that fateful day.
The NY Post reported that the bill, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), will need to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office before it can get a full vote in the House, but is expected to pass, as the legislation has 313 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Jon Stewart addressed the members of Congress on Tuesday.
It was an emotional appeal to Congress by Stewart, 9/11 first responders and their advocates to make a victim compensation fund permanent. One that finally paid off on Wednesday.
“People are still getting sick as diseases like cancer emerge after long latency periods. Those already sick are getting sicker, and tragically, many are dying and have died,” Jerrold Nadler said in his opening statement Wednesday.
And on Tuesday, Stewart, the former “Daily Show” host, pulled no punches, calling out Congress on “callous indifference and rank hypocrisy” in failing to renew the fund.
“Why this bill isn’t unanimous consent and a stand-alone issue, is beyond my comprehension. And I’ve yet to hear a reasonable explanation as to why,” said Stewart, who also blasted lawmakers for failing to attend Tuesday’s hearing. “Behind me, a filled room of 9/11 first responders, and in front of me a nearly empty Congress.”
Choking back tears, he demanded that the leaders of our nation step up and fully fund a program to support sick and dying 9/11 first responders.
“They responded in five seconds, they did their jobs. With courage grace, tenacity, humility. Eighteen years later, do yours!” he shouted.
He reminded the politicians that it’s not a New York issue, it’s a national one.
“I’m awfully tired of hearing that it’s a 9/11 New York issue. Al-Qaeda didn’t shout death to Tribeca. They attacked America and these men and women … brought our country back,” he said.
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund would have run out of money by December 2020, best case scenario.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS VIDEO. An emotional Jon Stewart is given the turnout coat of @FDNY legend Ray Pfeifer, who died from 9/11 related cancer. Ret #FDNY Kenny Specht makes the presentation outside a Congressional hearing room. @wcbs880 #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/WD6kW5Lvje
— Peter Haskell (@peterhaskell880) June 11, 2019
The new bill, which the House Judiciary Committee passed unanimously on Wednesday, permanently authorizes funding for the program.
Four years ago, Stewart sat in the same seat making the same case.
House Judiciary Comm hearing on 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund is underway. Comedian and 9/11 advocate Jon Stewart is among the witnesses. VCF is running dry because of a surge of illnesses. Bill would restore funding to help responders and survivors. @wcbs880 #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/AxSSfFX95s
— Peter Haskell (@peterhaskell880) June 11, 2019
Stewart was also joined by the widow of a construction worker who responded at Ground Zero, clutching a photo of her late husband to her chest as she spoke.
Comedian Jon Stewart is all business at House hearing. He blasted Congress for its inaction in failing to fully fund #VCF. This was an attack on US. Stewart testified “al Qaeda didn’t shout death to Tribeca.” @wcbs880 #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/DNjt2y6Zqm
— Peter Haskell (@peterhaskell880) June 11, 2019
The former talk show host’s testimony was the most vicious as he accused lawmakers of negligence and of treating first responders lobbying for more relief money “like children trick-or-treating, rather than the heroes they are and they will always be.”
“I’m sorry if I sound angry and undiplomatic, but I’m angry, and you should be, too, and they’re all angry as well and they have every justification to be that way,” he said.
He then pointed to the room behind him of aging first responders who had made another trip to Washington to fight for health care funding. It was backwards, he said.
“This hearing should be flipped. These men and women should be up on this stage, Congress should be down here answering their questions as to why this is so damn hard and take so damn long.”
The room exploded in applause when he finished his remarks.
“I cried through all of it, most of us did,” Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., told Stewart.
After his comments, the Louisiana Republican predicted the bill would sail through the committee and pass nearly-unanimously through the House.
Before Stewart spoke, Congress heard Luis Alvarez, a retired New York City detective, who will go through his 69th round of chemotherapy due to complications from being at Ground Zero.
“We are not here for anything for ourselves,” said Alvarez. “I did not want to be anywhere else but Ground Zero. We showed the world we would never back down and that we can all work together.”
Alvarez said he wasn’t there for himself, he was there so the victims who come after him are taken care of.
“My life isn’t worth more than the next responder to get cancer. This fund is not a ticket to paradise, it’s there to provide to our families when we aren’t there,” he said.
Today marks a major step for emergency responders, almost 18 years after the attacks.