Several months ago I wrote about the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act and how there are many co-sponsors but the House and Senate Bills have been stuck in committee for several months with no apparent action.

Will Congress do the right thing for 9/11 responders ?

I checked again and the status is still the same although there are more co-sponsors. In fact in both the House and Senate a majority of members are co-sponsors. In the House, it is about 60%. In the Senate, even higher (a filibuster-proof majority) Why is leadership keeping this bill bottled up in committee?

You can follow the progress (or lack of progress) as congressional leaders act (or not) and latest news on the renew911health.org website.

I’ve written several times this month about Congress forgetting that we owe a huge debt to the responders to the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001. Some people responded as part of the job; others were volunteers who just showed up to help.

Politicians like to say they will never forget but a bit of help to go with those sentiments would be nice. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act is one way to giving that bit of help.

I imagine congress is pretty busy today thinking about the national budget. But it seems they like last minute deals. While stalling on this, they could take up the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act.

I’m sure they will just kick the can down the road on the budget and just pass some sort of continuing resolution. But parts of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act expire at midnight tonight.

How about doing something positive today?

A bit over 14 years ago on September 11, 2001 several coordinated terrorist attacks were launched on America. Americans vowed to never forget the sacrifices of those who died or were injured as a result of those attacks. Every year on 9/11 politicians make a big show that they will “Never Forget”.

Thousands of volunteers helped in the rescue and recovery. Thousands helped clean up the devastation. We will “Never Forget”.

But our Representatives and Senators in Congress seem to have forgotten. They are glad to say “never forget” in their speeches. But they seemed to forget to “Never Forget” in their actions. Continue reading “Congress forgot to “Never Forget””

About 5 years ago, the Senate almost derailed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act which provides health care and compensation those for responders on and in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

One would think it would be a national priority to at least provide this minimal amount of aid to those who sacrificed their lives and/or health to rescue people from the collapsing and burning buildings recover bodies from the rubble, and helped clean-up so Wall Street and other American businesses could re-open.

But it doesn’t seem to be. We’ve heard plenty of political speech in this summer but not much about doing the right thing for 9/11 responders.

The website http://www.renew911health.org/news-articles-on-effort-to-renew-the-911-health-and-compensation-act/ provides an easy way to find what has been in the news on this issue.

Bills (James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act : HR 1726 and S928) were introduced in the House and Senate in April. In May the bills were referred to the appropriate committees and subcommittees. Bill have gathered co-sponsors but no floor action (debates or votes) in either branch.

If someone on these committees or in the party leadership has a problem with the legislation, why not tell us the problem or introduce a bill that would solve the problem. Why not a vote so we know who has a problem with the legislation or with the idea of giving medical care or compensation to those who sacrificed for America.

I think it a good idea to make this permanent but maybe there is some political benefit to being able to co-sponsor legislation every few years. But sometimes politicians just do the right thing.

Let’s hope they do the right thing for 9/11 responders.