Political Quotes

“Everyone here is concerned about helping people who are suffering, including New York firefighters and policemen and emergency rescue workers and others affected by this, but I want to point out what Ken Feinberg, the special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund said in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post entitled, ``9/11 fund. Once was enough.'' He said, ``Despite its success, the fund has not set a precedent. Congress has not authorized similar compensation for the thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina, for those injured by other natural disasters, or for the families of those killed in such tragedies. Nor has Congress exhibited such generosity toward U.S. soldiers wounded or the families of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. ``The same is true of victims of terrorist attacks that took place before September 11, 2001. The Navy personnel who died in the suicide attack on the USS Cole and the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing received no such public compensation. Even the victims of the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 were denied.'' Feinberg said, ``Bad things happen to good people every day; Congress does not come to their financial rescue with generous, tax-free checks.”