Posted on 06/12/2019 5:18:20 PM PDT by Beave Meister
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a bill which would permanently reauthorize the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Wednesday, the day after comedian Jon Stewart gave impassioned testimony in support of the bill in video that quickly went viral.
The bill will now go to the floor for a full vote in the House of Representatives, where it is likely to pass. It's unclear whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will take up the bill in the Senate, although Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Wednesday that he was "imploring, pleading, even begging" McConnell to bring the bill to the floor as soon as it passes in the House.
Stewart, the former host of "The Daily Show," gave emotional testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on Tuesday, at times broke down in tears and shouted at the lawmakers, calling them "shameful."
"I can't help but think what an incredible metaphor this room is ... a filled room of 9/11 first responders and in front of me, a nearly empty Congress. Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to speak to no one ... shameful," said Stewart at the outset of his remarks. A little over half of the 14-member subcommittee members were present, mostly Democrats.
Congress passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act in 2010, over opposition from some Republicans who balked at its $7 billion price tag. The act was reauthorized in 2015 for 90 years. But a portion of the law — the Victim Compensation Fund — was only funded for five years, through the end of 2020. The fund aimed to provide necessary financial support for the thousands who suffered serious medical issues, including a spate of cancer diagnoses, after the 2001 attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Pelosi is much to busy to pay attention to this trivia.
Not that I necessarily disagree with the bill. Its just funny thinking that Person A randomly involved in Event 1 through no fault of their own has the vast resources of Uncle Sam at his back while Person B randomly involved in Event 2 through no fault of their own is screwed.
I don't see Jon Stewart's urgency.
I lost two fireman friends to this horrible day and was in NYC and it was truly a nightmare.
Cancer did indeed kill a good fireman friend.
Won’t ever forget giving blood or the fighter jets above or driving past the shards of what was left of the WTC for what seemed like YEARS on the way to work at Rock Plaza.
I worked in those buildings in the ‘90 and I used to stare up from maybe 20 yards away and just look in AWE.
That being said, Billions and billions have been put towards funds already and I NEVER trust the fed govt when it comes to giving out more billions.
I just pray the money is not lining the wrong pockets.
The subcommittee members who were MIA when Stewart and Alvarez spoke include Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell of California, Madeleine Dean of Pennyslvania, and Sylvia Garcia, Veronica Escobar and Sheila Jackson, all of Texas. Swalwell is running for president.
The Republican members who were missing during their testimony were Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, Ben Cline of Virginia, and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota."
Credit where credit is due. Nicely done, Mr Stewart.
Yes. And that the power of celebrity is a thing, and the voice of an actor/entertainer gets the pond scum that is Congress to act while the regular citizen is ignored.
I could not loathe politicians more than I do.
P.S. My son was living in NY at the time. He still ducks when a plane is near.
I know someone who was a heavy equipment operator. Kidneys shot, not from cancer so he had no recourse. That is one of my problem with all these big sweeping government programs. They always fall short. They only help people who fit in a certain box, all other are screwed and can just keep paying taxes to help the others. People who were less needy benefitted from aid, while working class heroes were forgotten.
This is nothing but a racket to pay off New York City's public-sector unions.
That is a big part of the issue.
WHO is in charge of how the money is used and making sure it is getting to those who need it.
I know a guy whose sinuses were destroyed from infection and he is now in fact disfigured from surgery (among many other problems) but no cancer.
Who is getting the checks!
I suspect this fund has turned into a massive gravy train for many. The fraud, waste, and abuse is likely enormous.
The whole thing was predicated on this impassioned plea for Congress to help "first responders" from 9/11. These NYC municipal workers already have medical insurance coverage that covers the cost of any health care treatment they need.
There was no urgency to the work these NYC personnel were doing, and after the shock of the attack wore off the whole thing rapidly declined into an overtime scam for municipal workers and unionized construction workers...
I DO NOT want to go back and forth with you because I respect you too much.
There WAS an urgent reason to clean the pit and MANY of my firemen friends were in that pit.
Some of what you say has merit.
Perhaps you didn’t know HOW MANY firemen were in that pit cleaning up. Those weren’t just construction workers.
By a long shot.
And that’s nice of someone to offer for free.
Maybe some here would like someone to offer to do their job for free...
THIS I agree with 100 percent!
That's exactly my point. I'm sure there were plenty of them. Certainly more than necessary -- and almost every photo I've seen of them shows them working there with no breathing protection.
There WAS an urgent reason to clean the pit and MANY of my firemen friends were in that pit.
I understand that, but it wasn't "urgent" in a sense that it had to be done quickly and with no thought to using safe work procedures (in other words, I'm just distinguishing between the chaos and bedlam of the immediate aftermath and the longer-term cleanup process). That's why I pointed out that those photos from the 9/11 Memorial were taken months later.
I DO NOT want to go back and forth with you because I respect you too much.
Thank you. Same here. :-)
Yes, the men and women who did the rescue and recovery work deserve our thanks and support. Slimey Stewart put on some performance the other day...
However, there will be undeserving people will abuse this pile of money. Many of the problems we face in this country are due to lawmakers being goaded by emotional performances.
and with no thought to using safe work procedures...
and THAT killed one of my friends.
You are right.
If you’re gonna spend BILLIONS, have them do VERY SHORT shifts with FULL GEAR and not surgeon’s masks to walk into a death pit!!
You are ONE HUNDRED percent right!
Yes.
Why should these people get special PAYMENT via tax $ while others involved in something horrendous DON’T?
Because of the star power - power in #s - of 9/11. Meanwhile some sinkhole creating a hell for just 5 people creates no stir to solve their medical problems long-term.
I rather resent that WE have to pay out for what incidentally happened. If ANYONE should pay, it should be MOSLEMS and the countries which harbor them - through the nose.
WHY do we act like we are owed by people who did nothing? I see spoiled-brat gimme-gimme syndrome here, which is becoming all too common in this society.
I’m owed, SOMEONE has to pay, thus ANYone will do, even if they are innocent. Misplaced blame, misplaced “justice”.
No, I don’t like this. As if they didn’t get enough charity to start.
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