Today, in response to Carl Paladino’s statement on health care reform, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, representative of Ground Zero, and longtime proponent of health care reform, issued the following statement:

“Every decent person should be disgusted by Carl Paladino’s comparison of the recently enacted health care reform bill with the attacks of 9/11. It is not uncommon for people to misuse the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil for partisan political purposes, but this reaches a new low. He has insulted the memory of the nearly 3,000 Americans who were murdered on that day, and the thousands more first responders and survivors who have been sickened as a result of the environmental disaster which followed. As the Member of Congress who represent the World Trade Center site and many of the people who were killed or permanently injured on that day, I believe that there is no place in public life for this kind of vile exploitation of their sacrifice. Mr. Paladino owes an apology to every family touched by that disaster, and to every American.

“Furthermore, Mr. Paladino clearly lacks an understanding of the basic precepts of the Constitution, and he should study them before making pronouncements. As the Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Constitution, I can assure Mr. Paladino that the bill is unquestionably constitutional and I am confident the courts will uphold the law as such.”