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."
They did indeed back down, matie.
On 12/22/10, GregfromBoston <greg.vincent@yahoo.com> wrote:
> A unanmimous senate and a 3 to 1 House isn't backing down, mate. The
> 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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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
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