Rep. Nadler Statement on Administration's Draft 9/11 Health Plan

Statement

Rep. Nadler Statement on Administration's Draft 9/11 Health Plan

Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08) today issued the following statement regarding a draft Administration plan to implement a "Strategic Plan for a Nationwide World Trade Center Health Care Program":

"The existence of a draft 9/11 health care proposal is an acknowledgement from the Bush Administration that there are, in fact, real and significant health consequences from the collapse of the World Trade Center, and its content confirms that the affected population is growing as are the costs associated with the provision of care. I, of course, share the stated goal of the draft plan - to provide a long-term, comprehensive plan for the monitoring, testing, treatment and care of the victims of 9/11, and a coordinated mechanism for data collection and analysis. In that sense, the draft proposal appears to be an important step in the right direction.

"However, the current iteration of the draft plan leaves many questions unanswered about the Administration's intentions regarding details of operational and funding approaches, and has at least one glaring shortfall: it fails to provide for the health care needs of residents, non-first responder workers and students.

"But the real question raised by the existence of this draft is if Administration has possessed cost estimates that approach $400 million a year since at least June 15th, why isn't it engaged in advocating for greater funding right now -- when Congress is in the middle of the appropriations process for precisely these types of programs that are providing this care presently? Indeed, the Bush Administration asked for only $25 million for these existing programs in its budget and it has never revised that figure upward, despite promises to do so."

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