last thing to pass so dramatically was called the Patriot Act.
On Dec 22, 10:35 pm, Tommy News <tommysn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Senate Passes 9/11 Health Bill as Republicans Back Down
>
> Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times
> Wendy Flammia with a photo of her friend Jenn McNamara's husband, John
> McNamara, a New York City firefighter and 9/11 responder who later
> died of cancer, at a news conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
>
> By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
> Published: December 22, 2010
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> CloseLinkedinDiggMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink WASHINGTON — After
> years of fierce lobbying and debate, Congress approved a bill on
> Wednesday to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers and
> others who became sick from toxic fumes, dust and smoke after the 2001
> attack on the World Trade Center.
>
> Related
> Post a Comment
> The House Vote
> The Caucus: G.O.P. Finds Itself in a Corner Over 9/11 Bill Stance
> (December 22, 2010)
> 9/11 Health Bill Wins Support From G.O.P. (December 19, 2010)
> Times Topic: 9/11 Health and Environmental IssuesThe $4.3 billion bill
> cleared its biggest hurdle early in the afternoon when the Senate
> unexpectedly approved it just 12 days after Republican senators had
> blocked a more expensive House version from coming to the floor of the
> Senate for a vote.
>
> In recent days, Republican senators had been under fire for their
> opposition to the legislation.
>
> The House quickly passed the Senate bill a few hours later, as was
> widely expected. The vote was 206 to 60, breaking down largely along
> party lines. The White House said President Obama would sign the bill
> into law.
>
> After the Senate vote, a celebration broke out in a room in the
> Capitol that was packed with emergency workers and 9/11 families, as
> well as the two senators from New York, Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten
> E. Gillibrand, and the two senators from New Jersey, Frank R.
> Lautenberg and Robert Menendez. The senators, all Democrats, were
> greeted with a huge ovation and repeated chants of "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"
>
> Mr. Schumer, the state's senior senator, allowed Ms. Gillibrand to
> address the group first, in apparent deference to the role she took in
> the Senate on the 9/11 legislation.
>
> "Our Christmas miracle has arrived," she said to applause and cheers.
>
> "To the firefighters here, the police officers here, everyone involved
> in the recovery, all the volunteers, the family members: Thank you!"
> she continued. "It was your work, it was your heroism, it was your
> dedication that made the difference. It was your effort, coming here
> week after week to tell senators and Congress members about your
> stories and what you went through."
>
> The votes came after prolonged aggressive lobbying by top New York
> officials and lawmakers, police and firefighter groups and 9/11
> families, who argued that the nation had a moral obligation to provide
> medical assistance to rescue workers who spent days, weeks and even
> months at ground zero.
>
> In a reminder of the bill's long road to passage, Secretary of State
> Hillary Rodham Clinton, who sponsored the legislation when she
> represented New York in the Senate, was coincidentally at the Capitol
> on Wednesday for a Senate vote on ratification of the New Start treaty
>
> The 9/11 health measure calls for providing $1.8 billion over the next
> five years to monitor and treat injuries stemming from exposure to
> toxic dust and debris at ground zero; New York City would pay 10
> percent of these costs.
>
> There are nearly 60,000 people enrolled in health-monitoring and
> treatment programs related to the 9/11 attack. The federal government
> currently provides the bulk of the financing for these programs.
>
> The legislation adopted on Wednesday also sets aside $2.5 billion to
> reopen the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for five years to
> provide payment for job and economic losses.
>
> In a statement released by City Hall, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
> hailed the passage of the legislation, saying it "affirms our nation's
> commitment to protecting those who protect us all."
>
> The bill was adopted during a flurry of activity as lawmakers rushed
> to adjourn for the year. It was a major turn of events since the bill
> appeared to have fallen victim to partisan squabbling and rancor.
>
> In September, after years of negotiation and debate, the House passed
> legislation that called for providing $7.4 billion over eight years to
> cover the medical care of 9/11 rescue workers and others. But this
> month, Republicans derailed that legislation in the Senate, expressing
> concern about its cost.
>
> By Wednesday, Senate Republicans budged, following a barrage of
> criticism over the last few days — not just from Democrats, but also
> from allies, including former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York
> and conservative news outlets like Fox News. The 9/11 health care
> issue also became a cause of Jon Stewart, who used the platform of his
> program, "The Daily Show," to bring national attention to the bill.
>
> Before agreeing to lift their opposition, Senate Republicans managed
> to get Democrats to scale back the size of the original House bill.
>
> The Senate adopted the legislation by a voice vote, eliminating the
> need for a recorded vote, as lawmakers rushed to bring the
> Congressional session to a close.
>
> One of the main critics of the original House bill, Senator Tom
> Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, expressed satisfaction with the
> legislation's final cost.
>
> "Every American recognizes the heroism of the 9/11 first responders,"
> Mr. Coburn said. "But it is not compassionate to help one group while
> robbing future generations of opportunity."
>
> Still, the acrimonious fight over the 9/11 legislation appeared to
> leave Republicans on the defensive and concerned that their party had
> been unfairly demonized for raising legitimate objections to the
> original $7.4 billion bill the House passed.
>
> "Some have tried to portray this debate as a debate between those who
> support 9/11 workers and those who don't," said Senator Mitch
> McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader. "This is a gross
> distortion of the facts. There was never any doubt about supporting
> the first responders. It was about doing it right."
>
> In the House, there was some disappointment among Democrats over the
> deal cut in the Senate. But many concluded that the Senate bill was
> the best they could get at the moment.
>
> "This compromise isn't everything we wanted," Representative Carolyn
> B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, a chief sponsor of the original
> legislation, said. "But in the end we got a strong program that will
> save lives."
>
> The bill is formally known as the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and
> Compensation Act, named after a New York police detective who took
> part in the rescue efforts at ground zero and later developed
> breathing complications. He died in January 2006. The cause of his
> death became a source of debate after the city's medical examiner
> concluded that it was not directly related to the attack.
>
> The legislation allows for money from the Victims' Compensation Fund
> to be paid to any eligible claimant who receives a payment under the
> settlement of lawsuits that more than 10,000 rescue and cleanup
> workers recently reached with the city. Currently, those who receive a
> settlement are limited in how much compensation they can get from the
> fund.
>
> In New York, a federal judge told lawyers for the 10,000 that payments
> from the settlement must start going out by late January. The judge,
> Alvin K. Hellerstein of United States District Court in Manhattan,
> worked out a timetable with the lawyers so that the settlement terms,
> which call for payments of at least $625 million, become final within
> the next two weeks.
>
> More:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/nyregion/23health.html?partner=rss&...
>
> More:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/nyregion/23health.html?partner=rss&...
>
> --
> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> Have a great day,
> Tommy
--
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