Paul Tonko: “I stand here this evening in strong support of H.R. 847. I want to commend my colleagues, Representatives Maloney…”

“I stand here this evening in strong support of H.R. 847. I want to commend my colleagues, Representatives Maloney, Nadler, Crowley and the entire delegation from New York in a bipartisan way for working on this bill. It is so essential. Just hours, days after the attack on America, 9/11, I was at the time serving in the New York State Assembly. The Speaker of the State Assembly and a delegation of representatives from the House traveled to that site to show support to the workers. I can still recall the pain and the anguish that surrounded that site. I can still see the determination in the eyes of the workers. I can still understand the sense of character, the efforts made, the strength, the courage, the bravery, the resilience of those workers. If, in fact, we believe 9/11 is an attack on America, then we as an American public need to respond to the workers who showed the strength and the bravery to aid us in that very, very dark moment. So I stand in support of H.R. 847 and ask that everyone in this House show support to the workers. They deserve our respect, our resources, and let's support this measure.”