Signing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act into Law

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Firefighters and other responders who assisted with the recovery effort at Ground Zero can now benefit from a bill passed by Congress that will compensate them. This bill, which is now a law, will help remove the financial burden for those who developed illnesses after working day and night for weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. President Barack Obama signed the 2011 James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act into law on January 2, 2011.

Zadroga, an NYPD detective, was one of the first to die from causes related to his work at Ground Zero. Due to his participation in the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center, James Zadroga passed away from respiratory disease in 2006, with no previous history of asthma or smoking.

The pen used to sign this act is in the hands of Richard Alles, a Deputy Chief with the New York Police Department and the national legislative director of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association. Alles worked to get the legislation passed on behalf of the thousands of firefighters and other responders who were developing illnesses after working many long hours at Ground Zero following the attacks.

Alles expressed, "Well, it renewed my faith in America first of all because you start to think that perhaps our heroes were being forgotten. A lot of the same politicians that spoke so highly of the rescue workers and those that had died on September 11, 2001 seem to forget the other workers that were there and worked. Nobody could have ever foreseen what would happen to them." What happened was firefighters, other rescue workers and volunteers became sick with respiratory illnesses just a few years after 9/11. And even more concerning, rare cancers had stricken the relatively young and fit.

Congress passed the 4.2 billion dollar bill last year with 1.5 billion being allocated to health benefits for first responders and 2.7 billion to be used to compensate them. A long list of groups will be covered by the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act including responders, volunteers, even morgue employees. Those who lived in the area on September 11, 2011 or worked or attended school nearby, will also be eligible for compensation.

According to Richard Alles, the road to congressional approval was long and did not come easy. "I think that we dealt with the anti-New York buyers. It took us 9 years really to convince a lot of the legislators from across the country that this was not a New York issue, that the attacks were attacks on America," added Alles.

Alles also claimed compromises were made during this process. The original bill would have allocated money for the next ten years, however, the legislation signed into law only covers five. "Half a loaf is better than none. So, as things wound down, we signed on to 5 years as opposed to 10 just to get the legislation passed," stated Alles. For the next few years, just like the 343 firefighters who gave their lives on 9/11, the sick will also never be forgotten.



Author:Wendy Gillette - Video, Renee Marquart - Text