WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – John Feal, an activist for 9/11 survivors and founder of the FealGood Foundation, returned to Capitol Hill Thursday to call on Congress to fix the World Trade Center health care program.
“People are going to suffer. Americans are going to suffer,” said John Feal. “There’s going to be a tidal wave, it’s going to be a phenomenon. And a lot of people are going to get sick. Yes, and a lot of people are going to die.”
According to Rep. Andrew Garbarino (RN.Y.), many people who rushed to support back then are living with this burden today.
“They suffer from more than 60 different types of cancer and a number of other chronic diseases,” Garbarino said.
Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) and other New York lawmakers have introduced a bill to ensure indefinite and mandatory funding for the program.
“We are solving this problem once and for all, permanently. So no one has to worry. Even if someone gets sick in 10 or 15 years,” Schumer said.
The bill also fixes the way the program is funded. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) says this will ensure the program runs through 2090.
“Without this solution, the World Trade Center Health Program will face cuts in services and turn away new responders and survivors beginning in 2028,” Gillibrand said.
The program helps more than 130,000 people, and Reps. Andrew D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) call it a matter of common sense.
“Because it’s not a Democrat problem. It’s not a Republican problem. It’s not a New York or New Jersey problem. It’s a United States of America problem,” D’Esposito said.
“This is an obligation that America has,” Goldman said.
The goal is to pass the bill during this session of Congress, and Schumer promises to make that happen.
