Political Quotes

“Finally--and this time it is finally, I say to my good friend from Nebraska--I turn the attention of my colleagues to a harrowing fact: We are vastly approaching the point where more people will have died from exposure to toxic chemicals on 9/11 than were killed on 9/11 itself. These are the first responders, firefighters, police, and FBI agents who rushed to the towers that fateful day, ran into the fire, smoke, and twisted steel, risking their lives and, later, we learned, risking their health to get people out. These are the union members and construction workers who worked at the pile, breathing in a toxic blend of ash and dust in the days and weeks and months that followed. These are the people, the innocents, who lived downtown when the United States was attacked in the most dastardly attack on American soil. Right now we have a problem. While these folks are heroes and, sadly, many are suffering--because of the alarming number who are suffering from 9/11-related illnesses, the victim compensation fund is running out of money earlier than expected. The Justice Department recently announced that it might have to cut compensation awards between 50 and 70 percent. So today I was proud to join Senators Gillibrand and Gardner, as well as a group of our colleagues in the House, to introduce legislation to fix the shortfall of funding and put the victims' compensation fund on sure footing for the foreseeable future.…”