Israel Applauds 9/11 Health Bill

Rep. Steve Israel, D-Huntington, applauded his House colleagues Friday for passing a bill to ensure medical care for workers exposed to damaging toxins created by the Sept.11 terror attacks.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act is expected to now be taken up by the Senate.

"In the days and weeks following Sept. 11, 2001, many of my colleagues expressed their sympathy for the loss of so many Long Islanders," Israel said. "They asked me to tell my constituents that they were with them, and that if anything could be done to help, all I had to do was let them know."

Israel added, "On Wednesday, we accepted that offer when the House passed H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. This bill will ensure medical treatment for the first responders and recovery workers who were exposed to toxins at Ground Zero. It will also reopen the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund to provide financial support for recovery workers and first responders affected by the cleanup. More than 71,000 people were exposed to poisonous toxins in lower Manhattan and over 13,000 remain sick today."

Zadroga was a New York City police officer who died in 2006 after developing respiratory problems linked to his work at the World Trade Center site cleanup.

Passage of the bill came just three days before firefighters and others were heading to Maryland for the National Fallen Firefighters' Memorial weekend, which is expected to draw representatives from around the country.

Anthony Skut, a firefighter from Colchester, Conn., who attended the Sept.11 memorial service at the Huntington Manor Fire Department as he does each year,  said of the bill, "It's great they're finally doing something to take care of those workers who were down there. it is sad it took this long to do it. So many people suffered that day and are sufering now for what they did. Glad they finally realized it. We worked on the pile and then visited these workers a few weeks later. They were feeling ill after three or four weeks, and they kept working for weeks and months."

The Huntington Manor Fire Department lost its chief, Peter A. Nelson, in the attacks, and members of the department were among the thousands who worked in the rubble to find the bodies of victims and to clear the site.

The $7.4 billion bill would be paid for by ending certain tax breaks on foreign companies.