Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Zadroga 9/11 Compensation Act. On September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden orchestrated the deadliest terrorist attack in American history, killing almost 3,000 people and wounding thousands more. The attacks created an environmental nightmare as hundreds of tons of every contaminant known to man and woman came out onto the streets and canyons of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Into this toxic crowd ran firefighters and police and other first responders. First responders came from all 50 States to aid in the rescue and clean up in the subsequent days. The Environmental Protection Administration, the EPA, despite ample evidence to the contrary, kept falsely proclaiming that the air was safe to breathe. It wasn't. The terrorists caused environmental catastrophe, but the Federal Government compounded the damage by telling people the environment was safe when it wasn't, and now thousands of people are sick and in need of special care. We have a moral obligation to treat those who became ill, and that's what this bill is all about. For 8 years, Representative Maloney and I, supported on a bipartisan basis by the New York delegation and others, have worked to bring this bill to the floor. Now it's finally time to pass it.…”