New York’s firefighters unions are calling out federal lawmakers, demanding that they heed their promise to “never forget” the sacrifices incurred during the 9/11 terror attacks and the subsequent health-related issues.
Standing together on Sunday outside of FDNY Firehouse, Engine Company 10 and Ladder Company 10 located at 124 Liberty St. — near where many firefighters responded to the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 — the union reps made the call to action after Congress ripped apart a bill that would see the health costs of the rank and file suffering from 9/11 illnesses paid for only through 2040.
“We all made the promise to never forget. Never forget was a promise made by the American people to look after those who answered the call that day. So, we’re calling on the administration that’s coming in, we’re calling on the Senators and Congress people that have made their promises to honor what everyone has said to never forget,” FDNY Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro said.
The compensation fund provides financial aid to 125,000 people who grew sick responding to the infamous terrorist attack, many of whom developed fast-acting cancers — believed to be a result of toxins they were exposed to while working on the pile at Ground Zero. Hundreds of firefighters who worked “the pile” after 9/11 died of such cancers in recent years, with the death toll now exceeding the 343 firefighters lost on the day of 9/11.
Moreover, advocates say the deadly sicknesses are also impacting those who sprang into action on 9/11 at the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA.
“We’re always told by Senators and Congress people as we lobby that it’s a New York problem. It’s not a New York problem, it’s America’s problem,” Ansbro added. ”9/11 affected everybody, affected New York immediately, but it’s affected the entire country in the decades that have followed.”
The program dubbed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, provides wide-ranging coverage, including mental health issues. Ironically, the firefighters’ unions said that they only found out politicians had gutted the bill after they had already been promised that they would receive the funds and were in Washington celebrating.
The changes caught Uniformed Fire Officers Association President Jim Brosi off guard, leaving him to also rail against those in Congress.
“Unfortunately, twenty-some-odd years later, people are starting to forget. We’re down here three days before Christmas with over 30 members away from their family and friends, begging for funding,” Brosi said. “It is unimaginable that we would have to come down here and ask Congress to do the right thing.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul also sounded off on social media, reciting the pledge to never forget.
“‘Never forget’ aren’t just words in New York. They’re a promise. One the @HouseGOP broke tonight when they cut health care for 9/11 first responders from the government funding bill,” Governor Hochul wrote on X on Dec. 19, adding, “Get back into the Capitol and do. Your. Job.”
