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Authors, sign in!Comedian John Stewart, host of Comedy Central's cable TV program, has been a significant force in moving legislation on medical care for 9-11 responders sickened by the toxic materials in the air following the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Now, after securing funding nearly 10 years later, Stewart alerts his views to a complete travesty of legislative overreaching.
Stewart has exposed a provision of the law which requires First Responders to verify that they are not terrorists before they can collect on their claim of injury. The bill was amended by Florida Republican Representative Cliff Sterns and was agreed to by liberal California Representative Henry Waxman.
As a former resident of Florida, I can relate that Sterns has a long history of coming up with stupid ideas but this is one which is just plain insulting to the police and fire fighters who risked their lives to try to save the people who were in the Twin Towers when the terrorists struck. It should also be remembered that it took many more years to secure health benefits for First Responders than to establish a compensation system for family members of the victims.
And, keep in mind that the Bush Administration claimed the air was safe when there was substantial testing by the EPA to show that the air at Ground Zero was heavily contaminated.
So I can, sadly, "understand" Cliff Sterns' vote but I've got to call Waxman out and find out what his reasons are for support such an idiotic amendment.
Published April 26, 2011 by James Bordonaro |
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Comments (1)
Thank you for calling our attention to this. I too want to know Waxman's reasons. Republicans rushed to pose for photos with 9/11 first responders but, not surprisingly, Republicans were afterwards happy to throw 9/11 first responders under the bus, since NY is an incurably "blue" state. Why the Democrats have showed absolutely no interest in 9/11 first responders is a question that has been haunting me for almost a decade. Even if the Democratic leadership does not care about ordinary Americans (and apparently they don't), you would think that they would want to take advantage of this high-profile political opportunity.
Posted by Peter Tramel
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April 27, 2011 1:15 AM
Posted on April 27, 2011 01:15