Sean Patrick Maloney: “Today on the House floor, we passed a very important bill to reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security. Tonight…”

“Today on the House floor, we passed a very important bill to reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security. Tonight, we must take time to remember the horrific event that made our Nation realize that we needed a Department of Homeland Security to begin with, the attacks of September 11, 2001. We will never forget that fateful day and the thousands of people who lost their lives, and now we know that thousands more lost their health. We must not forget the firefighters, police officers, EMTs and other first responders who bravely rushed to save the lives of others, even as everyone else was running in the opposite direction. Within hours of the collapse of the World Trade Center, those first responders labored alongside hard hats and average New Yorkers without regard for their own health or safety. They spent countless hours working the pit, sifting through the rubble, hoping against hope that they would be able to rescue someone trapped deep below. Unfortunately, as the days went on and the mission turned from a rescue-and-recovery mission to a cleanup site, these brave men and women stayed. While they labored, most were not given the proper respiratory equipment, and all were given inaccurate information about the quality of the air they were breathing. They were told that the 'air was safe to breathe.' They were told that it was not a health hazard to be there.”