2 days ago I got a text from a firefighter in my district saying: Get a rare blood cancer and find out there is no firefighter cancer registry. The cancer registry is hosted by NIOSH, and on April 1 and last week, the agency was gutted. In Gresham, Oregon, there was an investigation because we had a firefighter who spent months in the hospital after surviving a flash fire, and the investigators were fired in the middle of the investigation. I come from a family of firefighters, one of whom just got diagnosed with Parkinson's after spending months at the World Trade Center. The fact of the matter is, on 9/11 my Republican colleagues will fall all over themselves to thank firefighters and say how they will never forget. I will tell you something, we are going to never forget the deafening silence and the inaction as these investigators and protections for firefighters who put their lives on the line, they did nothing and let them die. We will never forget. ____________________
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