Editorial: Never forget the WTC sick -- Congress must finally fully fund their health care

New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News on Feb 27, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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We were relieved when House Republicans, led by Long Island’s Andrew Garbarino, successfully pushed President Donald Trump to reverse the Elon Musk-imposed 20% cut to the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical monitoring and treatment to 137,000 responders and survivors sickened from the toxic plume from 9/11.

Never forget, indeed.

But having protected the WTC Health Program from Musk’s chainsaw, much more must be done to fully fund this CDC program, which will soon be facing shortfalls and have to ration medical care.

The long saga to get proper government support for the heroes and victims of 9/11 has been an important cause of these columns going on 20 years, since 2006, when cancers and other ailments starting manifesting in the firefighters, cops, steelworkers and others who inhaled the poisonous gray ash, filled with pulverized concrete.

It was Trump, who in 2019 made permanent and fully funded the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. The companion WTCHP was geared for permanent funding in December in a deal Garbarino won from House Speaker Mike Johnson, proud son of a hero Shreveport firefighter who was critically injured in the line of duty.

The Senate, with then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and WTC stalwart Kirsten Gillibrand and Indiana Republican Mike Braun, was also ready. But Musk killed the deal. And so we start again.

To their credit, almost all New Yorkers are on the new House bill. Almost. Missing are Hakeem Jeffries, Elise Stefanik, John Mannion and Joe Morelle. How many reminders do they need?

Stefanik is heading to the UN as ambassador, but she is still a House member and must sponsor the bill. She co-sponsored a bill “to ban the imposition of any State or local liability insurance, tax, or user fee requirement for firearm or ammunition ownership or commerce” the week after she was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, so she can also sign on to the WTC measure.

New Jersey needs to shape up. Only two members are sponsors, Tom Kean Jr. and Josh Gottheimer, who is running for governor. Missing is the rest of the delegation, including Mikie Sherrill, who is also running for governor, as well as Herb Conaway, LaMonica McIver, Rob Menendez, Donald Norcross, Frank Pallone, Nellie Pou, Chris Smith, Jeff Van Drew and Bonnie Watson Coleman. Don’t they care about the ailing heroes?

The GOP Senate needs a GOP champion, now that Braun has left. We nominate Pennsylvania freshman Dave McCormick, a West Pointer, who knows well the motto of “Duty, Honor, Country.” Do so in the name of Corey Comperatore, the Pennsylvania firefighter who was killed during the assassination attempt on Trump in July. Firefighters always run in to help. They need help now.

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