Madam Speaker, when the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, the towers sent up a plume of poisonous dust that blanketed Lower Manhattan. A toxic brew of lead, dioxin, asbestos, mercury, benzene, and other hazardous contaminants swirled around the site of the disaster as rescue workers labored furiously in the wreckage, many without adequate protective gear. Thousands of first responders, residents, area workers, students, and others from around the country inhaled this poisonous dust as it settled onto and into countless homes, shops, and office buildings.
Now, 6 years later, there is no doubt that thousands of people are sick from World Trade Center contamination. A study released in September 2006 by Mt. Sinai Hospital found that 70 percent of the more than 9,000 first responders studied suffer health problems related to their work at Ground Zero. This number does not include the Stuyvesant High School students whose school sat near piles of debris from the towers, the nearby residents whose apartments still contain poisonous dust, or the thousands of people who work in offices that were never properly cleaned.
Abraham Lincoln once said that we must ``care for him who shall have borne the battle.'' And so we should. Today, I, along with my colleagues, am introducing essential, new legislation that ensures that everyone exposed to World Trade Center toxins, no matter where they may live now or in the future, would have a right to high-quality medical monitoring and treatment, and access to a reopened Victim Compensation Fund for their losses. Whether you are a first responder who toiled without proper protection; or an area resident, worker or student who was caught in the plume or subject to ongoing indoor contamination; if you were harmed by 9/11, you would be eligible. This bill builds on the best ideas brought to Congress thus far and on the infrastructure already in place providing critical treatment and monitoring
Now, 6 years later, there is no doubt that thousands of people are sick from World Trade Center contamination. A study released in September 2006 by Mt. Sinai Hospital found that 70 percent of the more than 9,000 first responders studied suffer health problems related to their work at Ground Zero. This number does not include the Stuyvesant High School students whose school sat near piles of debris from the towers, the nearby residents whose apartments still contain poisonous dust, or the thousands of people who work in offices that were never properly cleaned.
Abraham Lincoln once said that we must ``care for him who shall have borne the battle.'' And so we should. Today, I, along with my colleagues, am introducing essential, new legislation that ensures that everyone exposed to World Trade Center toxins, no matter where they may live now or in the future, would have a right to high-quality medical monitoring and treatment, and access to a reopened Victim Compensation Fund for their losses. Whether you are a first responder who toiled without proper protection; or an area resident, worker or student who was caught in the plume or subject to ongoing indoor contamination; if you were harmed by 9/11, you would be eligible. This bill builds on the best ideas brought to Congress thus far and on the infrastructure already in place providing critical treatment and monitoring