Town’s firefighter unions slammed Sunday a choice by lawmakers two days earlier to strip very important well being care funds for 9/11 first responders from the federal price range after Elon Musk and Donald Trump nuked a stopgap spending plan, threatening a authorities shutdown.
“The one thing we were able to fall back on was people wouldn’t forget and they would always stand beside us,” mentioned James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fireplace Officers Affiliation. “Unfortunately twenty-some-odd-years later, people are starting to forget. It is unimaginable that we would have to come down here and ask Congress to do the right thing.”
After two failed votes by the GOP-led Home of Representatives, Congress handed a stopgap invoice to fund the federal government Friday, but it surely eliminated laws that might have absolutely funded the World Commerce Middle Well being Program by means of 2040, 9/11 advocates mentioned.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Day by day Information
A Christmas tree memorial with images of fallen first responders is seen outdoors the firehouse on Liberty Road. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Day by day Information)
“Part of what was left on the table was the bill that would provide the health care and the compensation for the sick and dying New York City firefighters, police officers, and first responders and civilians that were affected by what happened down there,” mentioned Uniformed Firefighters Affiliation President Andrew Ansbro.
Ansbro stood in entrance of Engine Co. 10/Ladder Co. 10 within the bitter chilly, throughout the road from the World Commerce Middle.
“The incoming politicians and those returning were given a mandate to make America great again,” he mentioned. “We know that you cannot make America great again if you leave behind those that are sick and those that are dying that answered the call on 9/11.”
The World Commerce Middle Well being Program was created in 2011 as a part of the James Zadroga 9/11 Well being and Compensation Act. It initially was presupposed to run for 5 years, however was prolonged till 2090 as extra individuals had been sickened with 9/11 diseases.
As of September, greater than 130,000 first responders and survivors have enrolled within the World Commerce Middle Well being Program. Simply over 7,000 individuals enrolled this 12 months alone, in keeping with this system’s web site.
Republicans deserted Wednesday a bipartisan plan to forestall a authorities shutdown after Musk took to his social media platform X demanding the invoice fail, and Trump adopted his lead. That led Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to basically rip up the deal days earlier than a shutdown deadline.
On Sunday, Brosi saved his criticism of the stopgap invoice nonpartisan.
“This is not a Republican or Democratic problem. This is a United States problem,” he mentioned. “We restored stability, we restored hope, and we did the job very few people were willing to do. … It is unthinkable at 23 years later that we should all be here on a 17-degree day standing outside this memorial begging for the funding to recognize the people who did the work.”
When requested if he had reached out to Trump, Ansbro mentioned “he’s currently not in power and we did not expect that tweets from him and Elon Musk would derail the bill, but we look forward to sitting down with him and making our case and letting him know that New Yorkers expect him to remember New York.”
He added, “We’ll see you next year. … We’re not here to point a finger at anyone for what happened that day. We’re here to let everyone know that we’re not going away.”
Initially Revealed: December 22, 2024 at 4:07 PM EST
