9/11 Health Care Our View

[DMCKEON]

To All,

There has been a lot of craziness going on surrounding the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act so we thought that we would give our perspective.

The act has been stalled in the House Health Subcommittee since July with little or no activity.

Rep. Frank Pallone has stated that he is doing all that he can to move the bill along but he does need to take at least some of the blame for the inactivity considering that in a press release this past September 11 he stated that he will be scheduling a mark-up of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009 in the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee at the end of this month. At the same time, Pallone, who chairs the Health Subcommittee, urged all supporters of the measure to mobilize and to press other members of the subcommittee to provide enough votes for approval.

"We can start the momentum with a mark-up, but we need to generate enough support to get it voted out of the subcommittee," said Pallone. "The emergency responders put their lives on the line when they were needed, we should respond to their needs now."

It is now 2010 and nothing has happened.

The least he can do is co-sponsor the bill as I do not see his name on the list of co-sponsors (see below)

That being said there are plenty of others to blame including the other 103 co-sponsors and the 331 representatives that have not co-sponsored the bill.

We need to go after them to put pressure to get this bill out of committee.

I have been told that there are three reasons why there has been no movement.


Primary Reason

Orders from the top (Obama and Pelosi) have pulled all available resources and put them on the National Health Care Bill.

I have been told that there are very few resources available to work on anything else.

If this is the case it is a very sad commentary on the ways things are getting done.

Also the veil of secrecy that continues to shield activity makes it very difficult to get the real story.

Secondary Concerns

It appears that members of the subcommittee as well of other members of Congress are concerned that the bill not only covers responders but residents and workers in NYC as well.

They tend to think that this is a New York issue and not a national concern.

Our response to that is that once Christie Whitman as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (a Federal Agency) made a public statement assuring everyone that the air quality was fine in New York City shortly after 9/11 this became a Federal issue.

There is also a concern that NYC was already given $1 billion to support health claims resulting from 9/11 but has only used that money to pay lawyers to fight the claims.

Unfortunately we cannot argue this point as it is a disgrace the way the WTC Captive Insurance Corp under the guidance of Mayor Bloomberg has handled 9/11 health claims over the past 5 years. (see link below)

The final issue is that of the many undocumented workers that are also covered under the current version of the bill.

It appears that many of the members of the committee are leery about opening up a can of worms if coverage is expanded to cover this portion of the population.

To this point we really do not have an answer but one would think they would be able to work something out.

So those are the facts as we know them.

Although most of the attention has been about the first responder portion of the bill because of the way our government works there are always other things involved.

Our recommendation would be to continue to reach out to your Representative to get him or her on board.

We would also like to know why Obama and Pelosi are allowed to basically bring all other work to a halt by assigning resources to their pet projects and why hasn’t the media been all over this.

We would ask Representative Pallone to at least co-sponsor the bill to show his support.

Finally we hope that everyone realizes that this is just the first step as if we do get these issues worked out there is still the Senate version of the bill S.1334 which currently only has 3 co-sponsors which will need to be addressed.

We hope this makes things a little clearer and we will continue to support this effort and keep you updated.

Below please find some additional information on both bills.

Dennis


H.R.847
Title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to extend and improve protections and services to individuals directly impacted by the terrorist attack in New York City on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 2/4/2009) Cosponsors (103)
Related Bills: S.1334
Latest Major Action: 7/29/2009 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Discharged.
________________________________________
COSPONSORS(103), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 2/4/2009 Rep Andrews, Robert E. [NJ-1] - 5/4/2009
Rep Arcuri, Michael A. [NY-24] - 2/4/2009 Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] - 10/20/2009
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 2/10/2009 Rep Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [GA-2] - 3/5/2009
Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] - 2/4/2009 Rep Brady, Robert A. [PA-1] - 5/7/2009
Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1] - 12/15/2009 Rep Burgess, Michael C. [TX-26] - 2/4/2009
Rep Cao, Anh "Joseph" [LA-2] - 12/1/2009 Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 9/15/2009

Rep Carney, Christopher P. [PA-10] - 10/22/2009 Rep Castor, Kathy [FL-11] - 9/16/2009
Rep Christensen, Donna M. [VI] - 4/22/2009 Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] - 2/4/2009
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 4/29/2009 Rep Connolly, Gerald E. "Gerry" [VA-11] - 2/13/2009
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] - 3/31/2009 Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] - 7/31/2009
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 2/4/2009 Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 12/1/2009
Rep Dahlkemper, Kathleen A. [PA-3] - 3/26/2009 Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3] - 3/4/2009
Rep Dent, Charles W. [PA-15] - 3/5/2009 Rep Doyle, Michael F. [PA-14] - 3/5/2009
Rep Ellsworth, Brad [IN-8] - 10/20/2009 Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17] - 2/4/2009
Rep Etheridge, Bob [NC-2] - 3/26/2009 Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 7/28/2009
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 11/19/2009 Rep Garrett, Scott [NJ-5] - 5/20/2009
Rep Gonzalez, Charles A. [TX-20] - 7/28/2009 Rep Green, Gene [TX-29] - 2/10/2009
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 3/4/2009 Rep Hall, John J. [NY-19] - 2/4/2009

Rep Harman, Jane [CA-36] - 11/19/2009 Rep Higgins, Brian [NY-27] - 2/4/2009
Rep Himes, James A. [CT-4] - 2/4/2009 Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 2/4/2009
Rep Hodes, Paul W. [NH-2] - 7/9/2009 Rep Holden, Tim [PA-17] - 12/1/2009
Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] - 3/10/2009 Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 2/4/2009

Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 11/16/2009 Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3] - 9/10/2009
Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 2/4/2009
Rep Klein, Ron [FL-22] - 3/4/2009

Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 3/4/2009 Rep Lance, Leonard [NJ-7] - 2/25/2009
Rep Larson, John B. [CT-1] - 3/10/2009 Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 3/4/2009

Rep Lee, Christopher J. [NY-26] - 2/4/2009 Rep Lewis, John [GA-5] - 3/4/2009

Rep Lipinski, Daniel [IL-3] - 9/22/2009 Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] - 2/4/2009
Rep Lynch, Stephen F. [MA-9] - 12/1/2009 Rep Maffei, Daniel B. [NY-25] - 2/4/2009
Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7] - 12/2/2009 Rep Massa, Eric J. J. [NY-29] - 2/4/2009
Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] - 2/4/2009 Rep McCaul, Michael T. [TX-10] - 6/4/2009
Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4] - 12/15/2009 Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 2/4/2009
Rep McHugh, John M. [NY-23] - 2/4/2009 Rep McMahon, Michael E. [NY-13] - 2/4/2009
Rep Meeks, Gregory W. [NY-6] - 2/4/2009 Rep Murphy, Christopher S. [CT-5] - 3/10/2009
Rep Murphy, Patrick J. [PA-8] - 11/19/2009 Rep Murphy, Scott [NY-20] - 7/15/2009
Rep Murphy, Tim [PA-18] - 9/16/2009 Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 2/4/2009
Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-38] - 12/1/2009 Rep Neal, Richard E. [MA-2] - 11/19/2009
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC] - 12/1/2009 Rep Nye, Glenn C., III [VA-2] - 12/8/2009
Rep Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [NJ-8] - 2/4/2009 Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. [PR] - 3/16/2009
Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 2/4/2009 Rep Reichert, David G. [WA-8] - 12/16/2009
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 12/1/2009 Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] - 10/13/2009
Rep Sarbanes, John P. [MD-3] - 9/16/2009 Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 2/10/2009
Rep Schauer, Mark H. [MI-7] - 5/7/2009 Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13] - 7/9/2009
Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] - 2/4/2009 Rep Sestak, Joe [PA-7] - 3/12/2009

Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] - 12/1/2009 Rep Sires, Albio [NJ-13] - 9/22/2009

Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28] - 3/16/2009 Rep Smith, Christopher H. [NJ-4] - 2/10/2009
Rep Stupak, Bart [MI-1] - 9/10/2009
Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13] - 2/4/2009
Rep Thompson, Bennie G. [MS-2] - 10/13/2009 Rep Tonko, Paul D. [NY-21] - 2/4/2009
Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10] - 2/4/2009 Rep Upton, Fred [MI-6] - 11/19/2009
Rep Velazquez, Nydia M. [NY-12] - 3/24/2009 Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1] - 12/9/2009
Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] - 2/4/2009 Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 4/22/2009
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 2/4/2009





S.1334
Title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to extend and improve protections and services to individuals directly impacted by the terrorist attack in New York City on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [NY] (introduced 6/24/2009) Cosponsors (3)
Related Bills: H.R.847
Latest Major Action: 6/24/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
________________________________________
COSPONSORS(3), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] - 6/24/2009 Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] - 6/24/2009
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] - 6/24/2009


The Rich Get Richer and the Sick Continue to Suffer

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