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FAA Norman Mineta Norway NSA NYC NYCCAN NYPD Obama Occupy Wall Street official account Official Government Version oil Oliver North Olympia Snowe onion Operation Dark Heart Operation Northwoods Opium Osama Bin Laden Oslo Ottawa OWS P2 Pakistan Palestine Panetta Pat Curley Patriot Act Patriot Defense Group Patty Casazza Paul Thompson Peace of the Action Pentagon Pentagon Papers PENTTBOM Peter Dale Scott Peter King Peter Phillips petition Philadelphia Philip Giraldi Philip Zelikow phone hacking photographs photos physical evidence Pilots for 9/11 Truth Pinochet Pipeline Pittsburgh Steelers plane crash PNAC podcast Political Prisoners political research associates Port Authority Preet Bharara press press release Press TV Prince Bandar Project Censored propaganda protest pseudo-journalism psychology Pumpitout Radio Qatar Quantico questions R. Leslie Deak rachel maddow radar Radio 2GB Ramzi bin al-Shibh Rap News Rashard Mendenhall Ray Kelly Ray McGovern Raymond Davis Ray Nowosielski redacted Rediscover911 remains Remember Building 7 Rescue Me Research Rethinking Counterterrorism RIBA Richard Blee Richard Clarke Richard Falk Richard Gage Richard Mellon Scaife foundation Richard Meyers Rich Blee Rick Veitch Rita Katz Robert Fisk Robert Foster Robert Parry Robert Scheer Rock Creek Free Press Rolling Stone Rory Albanese Roseanne Barr Rosie O'Donnell Rudy Giuliani Russ Baker Russia Today Saddam Hussein Saeed Sheikh Samir Khan Sarasota Saudi Saudi Arabia Saudis SCAD scads Scott Ford Scott Noble Screw Loose Change Sean Penn secrecykills.com self-deception Senate Senator Mike Gravel Sept. 11 September 11th September 11th Advocates September 11th attacks settlement Shadow Government Shanksville Shoestring shoot down Sibel Edmonds Sibel Emonds simulations SITE skepticism sounds South Park Spain speculation speech SPLC spying State crimes against democracy State Department State Of Emergency Stephen Cozen Steve Dusterwald Steven Hatfill Steven Jones Strategy of Tension Stratfor Supreme Court surveillance surveillance state Susan Rice Syed Shazad Taliban taped terrorism terror plot Terror Timeline The Big Lie The Corrs The Daily Show The Eleventh Day of Every Month The Facts Speak For Themselves The Hard Evidence Tour The Huffington Post The Jersey Girls The New Yorker The Pentagon The Post-9/11 World The Power of Nightmares Thermate The Third Stage Thierry Meyssan think tank Thomas Kean Tom Drake Tom Owen Tom Ridge Tom Wilshire Tony Shaffer Tony Szamboti Topps Top Secret America torture Toward Justice Toxic to Democracy Truth Truth Action truthaction.org Truth Action Ottawa Truth Be Told Comics truther Truth Movement truthout.org Truth Revolution Truth Rising TSA twin towers twitter U.S. UN underwear bomber United 93 United 175 United Airlines United Nations University of Colorado University of Virginia UN Watch US government US Military vaccines Valerie Plame Vanessa Lang Langer victims videos videotaped visa express visibility Visibility 9-11 Wall Street war war crimes war games warnings War on Terror Washington Post We Are Change Welt der Wunder Whistleblower whistleblowers White House Who Is Rich Blee Whoopi Goldberg Wikileaks William Blum Willie Nelson Will McCants wiretaps World Series World Trade Center WTC WTC7 WTC 7 Xe Yemen Zacarias Moussaoui Zadroga Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act Zelikow

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"debunkers" #gifiles #occupywallstreet 7/7 bombings 9/11 9/11 attacks 9/11 Citizens Commission 9/11 Commission 9/11 Commission Report 9/11 Conspiracy Roadtrip 9/11 Fahrenheit 911 9/11 families 9/11 phone calls 9/11 survivor 9/11 truth 9/11 Truther 9/11 Truth Movement 9/11 victims 9/11 War 9/11 War Games 9/11 Wars 9/11 Whistleblowers 9/11 workers 9/11 Working Group of Bloomington 9/11: Press For Truth 10th Anniversary 28 pages 757 911 first responders 911 museum 911blogger 911truthnews.com 2012 Abbottabad Able Danger accountability ACLU activism activists Adam Curtis Adam Syed AE911truth ae911truth.org Afghanistan aftermath Ahmadinejad AIPAC Air Force One al-Awlaki al-Qaida Alan Colmes Alan Grayson Alec Baldwin Alec Station Alex Jones Alfreda Frances Bikowsky Alhazmi Ali Soufan Al Jazeera Almihdhar Al qae al Qaeda Amalgam Virgo American War Machine Among the Truthers Andrew Card Andrew Napolitano Andrews Air Force Base anniversary Ann Wright Anonymous Anthony Shaffer Anthony Summers Anthrax Antonio Martinez Anwar al-Alwlaki Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Awlaki architects Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth artifacts assassination Atiyah abd al-Rahman Australia Australian Broadcasting Corporation b BAE Ban Ki-moon Barack Obama Barcelona Barnes and Noble Barrie Zwicker baseball cards BBC BCCI Behrooz Sarshar Benedict Sliney Ben Fordham Ben Sliney Bill Clinton Bill Doyle Bill Maher Bill Moyers Bill O'Reilly bin Laden Blackwater Bloomington Bob Bowman Bob Graham Bob Kerrey Bob McIlvaine books Bosnia Brett Smith Brian Kilmeade Brooklyn Bridge Bruce Ivins Building 7 Building What bureaucracy Bush Bush Administration C-SPAN Camp David cancer capitalism Cass Sunstein censorship Champion Cheney China Chip Berlet Chris Hedges Chris Mohr Christian Chuck Schumer CIA Cindy Sheehan CIT Citizen Investigation Team Civil Disobedience civil liberties Classified Woman classroom CNN Cofer Black COG Cointelpro Cold War Cole Bombing Coleen Rowley Colin Powell Colorado Colorado Public Television Condonleezza Rice Con Edison congress conspiracies conspiracy conspiracy theory Constitution consumerism contradictions Cordoba Initiative Cornell West corporate media Cosmos Counter-Terror Expo Counterpunch counterterrorism coverup cover up CPT12 cryptome.org cybersecurity Cynthia McKinney Dahlia Wasfi Daniel Ellsberg Daniel Pipes Daniel Sunjata Dave Frasca David Chandler David Long David Ray Griffin David Swanson David Weigel DC debris debunking Deep Politics Democracy Now Democratic Party demolition Demos Dennis Kucinich detainee detainees Detroit DIA Dick Cheney Dick Gregory Disconnecting the Dots disinformation documents Donald Rumsfeld donations Donna Marsh O'Connor Downing Street drones dust Dwight D. Eisenhower DynCorp Egypt Egyptian Revolution Eleanor Hill Elena Kagan Eleventh actions Emanuel Sferios Emily Louise Church empire engineers entrapment Eric Bolling Eric Holder Eric Margolis espionage act Evan Dando evidence exercises explosions extremism F-16 FAA facebook Fahrenheit 9/11 Fake Phone Calls theory FBI FDR Analysis Fealgood Foundation FEMA firefighters first responders Flight 77 flight 93 Florida FOIA foreknowledge FOX FOX News Frances Bikowsky Frank Legge Fran Townsend fraud Fred Burton fresh kills funding FX Gawker General Assemby George Bush George Tenet George W. Bush Geraldo Rivera Germany Geronimo Gladio Glenn Beck Glenn Greenwald globalization Global Jihad Unit GN Graeme MacQueen Green Party Gregg Roberts Ground Zero Ground Zero mosque groups Guantanamo Guantanamo Bay Gulf of Tonkin hackers Hamid Karzai Haqqani health Health Bill hearing Heather Penney Heroin hijackers hijacking Hilary Clinton Hillary Clinton History Commons historycommons.org hit piece Homeland Security Howie Hawkins HR 847 Huffington Post humor Hypothesis Image Comics immunity Indefinite Detention India infiltration inside job Inspire magazine Intelligence Advisory Board intelligence failures intercept International Center for 9/11 Studies investigation Iowa Iran Iran-Contra Iraq Iraq War ISI Islam Israel issues James Bamford James Gourley Jane Mayer Janet Napolitano Janette MacKinlay Jason Leopold Jay Carney Jeffery Farrar Jellyfish Jersey Girls Jesse Ventura JICI Jim Corr Jim Fetzer Joe Biden Joe Rogan John Albanese John Ashcroft John Bursill John Duffy John Feal John Gross John Judge John Lennon John Pilger John Stewart John Walker Lindh Joint Congressional Inquiry Joint Forces Intelligence Command Jonathan Barnett Jonathan Cole Jonathan Kay Jon Cole Jon Faine Jon Gold Jon Stewart Joseph Doyle journalism Journal of 9/11 Studies Joy Behar Judge Hellerstein Judy Wood Julia Gillard Julian Assange justice Justice Department KALW Katherine Bigelow kdub Keith Olbermann Kent Gibson Kevin Barrett Kevin Bracken Kevin Fenton Kevin Ryan Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Korey Rowe Kosovo Kristen Breitweiser KSM LaborTech Langley Larry Silverstein Laurie Manwell Lawrence Wilkerson lawsuit Lee Hamilton Leon Panetta Libya lies limited hangout Link TV Liz Cheney Lloyd's of London London Truth Action Loose Change Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup Lorie Van Auken Lupe Fiasco Mahmoud Ahmed mainstream mainstream media Manny Badillo Mark Basile Mark Bavis Mark Rossini Mark Ruffalo Matt Taibbi Media Matters Media Roots MEK Mexican drug cartel Michael Anne Casey Michael Canavan Michael Goodwin Michael Moore Michael Mukasey Michael Mullen Michael Ruppert Michael Scheuer Mickey Huff Mike Gravel Mike Huckabee milestone Military Tribunals Mindy Kleinberg MK-Ultra Mohamed Osman Mohamud Mohammad Atta Mohammed Junaid Babar Morocco Mosque Mother Jones motive msnbc Muburak Muhammad Hussain Mumbai attacks Murdoch Muslim Muslim Center My Pet Goat Nafeez Ahmed nano-thermite Naomi Klein Naomi Wolf National Institute of Standards and Technology National September 11 Memorial NATO NBC NDAA Netanyahu Newburgh 4 news News Corp New York New York City New York magazine New York TImes New Zealand NFL Niels Harrit NIST Noam Chomsky NORAD NORAD. FAA Norman Mineta Norway NSA NYC NYCCAN NYPD Obama Occupy Wall Street official account Official Government Version oil Oliver North Olympia Snowe onion Operation Dark Heart Operation Northwoods Opium Osama Bin Laden Oslo Ottawa OWS P2 Pakistan Palestine Panetta Pat Curley Patriot Act Patriot Defense Group Patty Casazza Paul Thompson Peace of the Action Pentagon Pentagon Papers PENTTBOM Peter Dale Scott Peter King Peter Phillips petition Philadelphia Philip Giraldi Philip Zelikow phone hacking photographs photos physical evidence Pilots for 9/11 Truth Pinochet Pipeline Pittsburgh Steelers plane crash PNAC podcast Political Prisoners political research associates Port Authority Preet Bharara press press release Press TV Prince Bandar Project Censored propaganda protest pseudo-journalism psychology Pumpitout Radio Qatar Quantico questions R. Leslie Deak rachel maddow radar Radio 2GB Ramzi bin al-Shibh Rap News Rashard Mendenhall Ray Kelly Ray McGovern Raymond Davis Ray Nowosielski redacted Rediscover911 remains Remember Building 7 Rescue Me Research Rethinking Counterterrorism RIBA Richard Blee Richard Clarke Richard Falk Richard Gage Richard Mellon Scaife foundation Richard Meyers Rich Blee Rick Veitch Rita Katz Robert Fisk Robert Foster Robert Parry Robert Scheer Rock Creek Free Press Rolling Stone Rory Albanese Roseanne Barr Rosie O'Donnell Rudy Giuliani Russ Baker Russia Today Saddam Hussein Saeed Sheikh Samir Khan Sarasota Saudi Saudi Arabia Saudis SCAD scads Scott Ford Scott Noble Screw Loose Change Sean Penn secrecykills.com self-deception Senate Senator Mike Gravel Sept. 11 September 11th September 11th Advocates September 11th attacks settlement Shadow Government Shanksville Shoestring shoot down Sibel Edmonds Sibel Emonds simulations SITE skepticism sounds South Park Spain speculation speech SPLC spying State crimes against democracy State Department State Of Emergency Stephen Cozen Steve Dusterwald Steven Hatfill Steven Jones Strategy of Tension Stratfor Supreme Court surveillance surveillance state Susan Rice Syed Shazad Taliban taped terrorism terror plot Terror Timeline The Big Lie The Corrs The Daily Show The Eleventh Day of Every Month The Facts Speak For Themselves The Hard Evidence Tour The Huffington Post The Jersey Girls The New Yorker The Pentagon The Post-9/11 World The Power of Nightmares Thermate The Third Stage Thierry Meyssan think tank Thomas Kean Tom Drake Tom Owen Tom Ridge Tom Wilshire Tony Shaffer Tony Szamboti Topps Top Secret America torture Toward Justice Toxic to Democracy Truth Truth Action truthaction.org Truth Action Ottawa Truth Be Told Comics truther Truth Movement truthout.org Truth Revolution Truth Rising TSA twin towers twitter U.S. UN underwear bomber United 93 United 175 United Airlines United Nations University of Colorado University of Virginia UN Watch US government US Military vaccines Valerie Plame Vanessa Lang Langer victims videos videotaped visa express visibility Visibility 9-11 Wall Street war war crimes war games warnings War on Terror Washington Post We Are Change Welt der Wunder Whistleblower whistleblowers White House Who Is Rich Blee Whoopi Goldberg Wikileaks William Blum Willie Nelson Will McCants wiretaps World Series World Trade Center WTC WTC7 WTC 7 Xe Yemen Zacarias Moussaoui Zadroga Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act Zelikow

Reps: Heroes' Stories Should Inspire Passage of 9/11 Bill

August 29, 2010
Category: RELATED

Last month, after years of effort, we finally secured a vote by the full House of Representatives on our legislation, which would provide medical monitoring, treatment and economic compensation for those injured or made sick by the toxic cloud that lingered for weeks following the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

Emotions ran high during the debate, and we were deeply disappointed that the bill did not achieve the two-thirds majority required for passage under “suspension of the rules,” the parliamentary procedure that was used to bring the bill before the House.

However, the battle to provide help to the heroes, heroines and survivors of Sept. 11 isn’t over – not by a long shot. The 255 votes in favor of the Zadroga Act show that it would have more than enough support to pass the House if it is reconsidered under normal rules, which require only a simple majority, or 218 votes, for passage. That is precisely what we intend to do soon after Congress reconvenes on Sept. 14.

Many of our colleagues who voted “no” last month did so because they objected to the way the bill was funded, but have told us they would otherwise support helping those who were harmed by the toxins at Ground Zero. But others who opposed the bill simply don’t understand the severity of this health crisis – and that it affects Americans from all 50 states.

That is a real shame.

For too many Americans, 9/11 is not simply an historical event but an ongoing nightmare that is slowly robbing them of their health, their strength and, in the worst cases, their lives. We would like to share a few stories about the responders and survivors at the heart of this struggle.

Martin Fullam

A New York City Fire Officer, Lt. Martin Fullam braved the chaos and destruction at Ground Zero to aid in the 9/11 rescue and recovery effort, helping evacuate the towers. In the years following the attacks, however, Fullam began to experience debilitating health problems as a result of his service on 9/11, which forced him to retire from the job he loved. He has polymyocitis, an autoimmune disease that caused him to lose 60 pounds and steadily diminished his lung capacity until he required a double lung transplant, which he received in March 2009.

Long experiencing physical weakness and compromised lung capacity, Fullam has paid a heavy financial, physical and personal toll as a result of his work at Ground Zero.

Recently, when the Senate held its first hearing on the Zadroga Act, such was his commitment to the issue that he traveled to Washington to take part and became even sicker as a result. He has since been confined to a hospital.

The Zadroga Act would provide FDNY heroes like Fullam with federally-funded health care and economic relief.

Margrily Garcia

Margrily Garcia worked near the World Trade Center site. Like many others, she evacuated lower Manhattan covered in toxic dust on 9/11. She returned to work shortly after the attacks, relying on the EPA’s assurances that the air was safe to breathe. We now know, however, that Garcia was inhaling toxins that lingered in the air for weeks after the attacks.

In 2006, after battling breathing problems and fatigue, she was diagnosed with chronic sinus inflammation, asthma and sarcoidosis, a disease that causes scarring of the heart, lungs and other vital organs. Margrily’s heart was so damaged that she had to receive a pacemaker. Since she became ill, her diseases have been mentally and physically exhausting, requiring constant doctor visits and treatment.

Garcia says that “it’s a constant battle to remain alive, but I’m very grateful to still be here fighting with the support of the elite doctors and staff in the survivors program at the WTC Environmental Health Center. I cannot imagine how things would be without them.”

The Zadroga Act would make permanent the health care program for survivors like Garcia and expand its funding.

Alex Sanchez and Manuel Checo

After 9/11, hundreds of buildings in lower Manhattan were coated inside and out with toxic dust. Though they played a less visible role in the recovery effort than firefighters and rescue workers, Alex Sanchez and Manuel Checo, proud U.S. citizens both, were among the thousands of workers who cleaned the buildings of lower Manhattan and helped get our city back on its feet.

They often did this work with nothing more than a pail and mop – with no protective gear other than flimsy paper masks.

After working together in toxic conditions for months, the two developed a wide range of illnesses, including asthma, lung nodules and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. Both men were unable to return to their jobs due to their debilitating health problems. Lost wages and poor health have had a devastating impact on their lives, and Checo has had to sell valued possessions for income.

Today, the two men are barely managing to survive on workers’ compensation. But even when their health is at its worst, Sanchez and Checo, along with Sanchez’s son Jack, can always be counted on to show their support for the Zadroga Act, which would give both men guaranteed health care and reopen the federal Victim Compensation Fund. That would make a huge difference in their lives.

Frank Fraone

Frank Fraone, division chief of the Menlo Park Fire Department in California, was thousands of miles away from New York City on 9/11, fighting wildfires. Along with thousands of other brave men and women from around the country, Chief Fraone traveled to New York to aid local rescue workers at Ground Zero. Fraone had seen his fair share of destruction during his career, but nothing prepared him for what he saw here.

He worked 16-hour days with fellow rescue workers, inhaling toxic dust that later left him with lower respiratory airway disease. Now living across the country from New York City, he still feels the effects of working at Ground Zero, which he says limited his ability to respond to other disasters, including Hurricane Katrina.

Fraone has had difficulty getting health care in California for his ailments and says that “living out here in California, I cannot get confirmation or talk face-to-face with anyone affiliated with [9/11] health care issues. I do not know to this date if I am going to be covered for my health concerns. What happens when this health issue disables me and I can no longer work or care for my family?”

The Zadroga Act would fully fund programs to provide health care to 9/11 responders and survivors who live outside the New York metropolitan area and give them access to economic compensation.

Joseph Picurro

At a time when most people were running away from lower Manhattan, Joseph Picurro rushed to the World Trade Center site to volunteer his expertise as an ironworker for the rescue effort.

For 28 days, he helped cut steel beams on the Pile to find survivors and clear debris, often sleeping on the floor of a nearby office building rather than returning to his home in New Jersey at night.

In the years after, Picurro was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, which makes breathing painful, as well as with reactive airway dysfunction syndrome and severe acid reflux. He suffers from constant joint pain, seizures and blackouts and relies on dozens of different medications. He is currently in hospice care and has had to fight to get workers’ compensation for his illnesses.

“Our financial situation is bad – I mean bad. For 6 years I’ve had to beg for help, borrow from family and I just can’t do it anymore and shouldn’t have to. We need to reopen the Victim Compensation Fund. My husband did serve his country and now it’s time for the country to serve him, before he dies,” says Picurro’s wife, Laura.

Leon Heyward

Following the attacks, Leon Heyward was directed by his supervisor at the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs to pick up coworkers at Ground Zero and drop them off at their homes. By doing his job and helping others, Heyward was enveloped by the toxic dust that engulfed lower Manhattan. One year later, he was diagnosed with sarcoidosis of the brain, lungs and eyes, which required frequent hospital visits. By 2003, seizures sustained at work due to his sarcoidosis forced Heyward to stop working. After leaving the workforce, Heyward was initially denied workers’ compensation and he had to ask his friends and family for help paying his health care and living expenses.

While he eventually won some Social Security disability benefits, the toll on his finances and health was irreversible.

Heyward died in October 2008 from lymphoma-complicating sarcoidosis after fighting for seven years to get proper care and workers’ compensation and to have doctors and the government recognize that his illness was caused by 9/11.

Stories like these – and hundreds of people whose names may never be publicized – are why we will never stop fighting to provide proper medical care and economic relief for those who were harmed by the attacks on the United States.

We have a moral responsibility to help those who came to the aid of our nation in one of America’s darkest hours. Nine long years after the attacks, the living victims of 9/11 are still suffering. We must pass this bill. It is the least we can do as a grateful nation.

Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens), is chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. Nadler (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn), is chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. King (R-Long Island), is the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

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