Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik today joined her colleagues in calling on House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) to bring the bipartisan 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act (H.R. 4965) to a vote in committee as Congress returns next week.
H.R. 4965 would address a funding shortfall in the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and ensure its adequate funding now and in the future. The bill was referred to the committee in August of 2021, but the Chairman has not yet brought the bill up for consideration, even though Stefanik has previously called on him to move this legislation forward to address the impending shortfall.
“Congress must never forget its debt of gratitude to our brave 9/11 first responders,” Stefanik said. “These heroic men and women put their lives on the line during the September 11th terrorist attacks and live with the health consequences to this day, and we must ensure they have the protection they deserve. I have worked across the aisle to present a bipartisan solution to the impending health funding shortfall, but House Democrats have failed to include this critical program in their trillions of dollars in partisan spending and are still dragging their feet at moving this legislation forward. This 21st anniversary of 9/11 serves as another reminder of our commitment to these brave first responders, and House Democrats must end any delay on moving forward legislation that will ensure 9/11 first responders do not lose health coverage.”
Currently, the WTCHP provides medical treatment and monitoring for over 100,000 responders and survivors from the World Trade Center and lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and the Shanksville, PA crash site, who live in every state and in 434 out of 435 Congressional Districts.
The lawmakers wrote in part, ”In July, we, Republican cosponsors of this legislation, sent you a letter urging you to work with us in a bipartisan manner to find a pay-for and bring forth H.R. 4965 for a full committee markup. As we noted then, if Congress does not quickly address this impending crisis, then the men and women who put their lives on the line and who survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks will lose health coverage to treat the physical and mental illnesses that they sustained on that fateful day. In the eight weeks since this last letter, no action has been taken to move H.R. 4965 forward within the committee, despite broad bipartisan support and the looming funding deficit.”
Currently, the WTCHP provides medical treatment and monitoring for over 100,000 responders and survivors from the World Trade Center and lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and the Shanksville, PA crash site, who live in every state and in 434 out of 435 Congressional Districts.
Read the full letter here.
