9/11 Health Bill Sponsors, Jon Stewart, Advocates Call on Mulvaney to Leave World Trade Center Health Program Alone

Yesterday, 9/11 Health Program beneficiaries and advocates came together at the Capitol to demand that Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney withdraw his ill-thought out proposal to separate the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) from National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) direction.

Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), and Peter King (R-NY), the original sponsors of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act of 2015, joined with 9/11 victims, comedian and leading 9/11 health advocate Jon Stewart, union leaders, and medical professionals to discuss the importance of the WTCHP and the dangers removing it from NIOSH will cause. The Representatives recently sent a letter to Director Mulvaney explaining the harm that this proposal would do to the WTCHP program.

Congressman Jerrold Nadler said, "The World Trade Center Health Program works. It treats tens of thousands of first responders and survivors all over this country -- in every state and in nearly every congressional district. The expertise of the men and women of NIOSH have saved lives, brought comfort to grieving families, and eased the suffering of these injured heroes. Why on earth would we change it now, just two years after Congress reviewed and reauthorized it? In the name of the men and women who rely on the World Trade Center Health Program, in the names of their families and children and grandchildren, we call on OMB Director Mick Mulvaney and the Administration to reverse this proposal and protect the responders and survivors of the September 11th attacks. We made a promise to them that this program would be there for them no matter what. I refuse to walk back that promise because of some misguided, uninformed policy proposal."

Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney said, "We came together today to make sure our country keeps the promise we made after 9/11 to always be there for the firefighters, the police, the EMTs, the workers clearing the pile, and survivors who got sick or injured from the toxins at ground zero. A promise we kept when we made the 9/11 health program essentially permanent just over two years ago that Director Mulvaney is trying to renege on. You all saw the ferocity with which we fought for the program initially and its reauthorization and you can bet you'll see it again if this proposal isn't taken off the table."

Congressman Peter King said, "It is critical that this program remains a part of NIOSH, where it has been since its inception. Director Mulvaney should leave this program alone and rescind his ill-informed, mean-spirited proposal immediately."

Senator Charles Schumer said, "The first responders who rushed headlong into danger on 9/11 are American heroes who deserve full care and compensation for the injuries they suffered in the line of duty. The White House's proposed changes to the World Trade Center Health Program could leave it without its longtime director and many staff, who are well-versed in the unique challenges faced by the thousands of firefighters and police officers from New York and around the country with cancer and other serious illnesses who rely on this critical lifeline. Our brave first responders are fighting for their lives and cannot afford any potential interruption of their care. The White House should stick with what we know works best by keeping the WTCHP within the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, as Congress intended in the legislation we passed to renew the program three years ago. We cannot turn our backs now on the brave men and women who answered the call of duty during the worst terrorist attack in American history."