WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement today as part of an Health Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 6594, James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2008:
“Mr. Chairman, we all want to take care of first responders at the World Trade Center. We want to take care of individuals who were in those buildings. We want to take care of those volunteers that risked their lives to try to help the professionals. We also want to help our congressional friends from New York. We’re glad to have the mayor here – it’s a privilege to have you here, sir.
“It’s good that we’re having a hearing. I’ve spent a fair amount of time complaining to Mr. Pallone and Mr. Dingell that things that should go through the committee are taken to the floor on the suspension calendar so I can’t complain that we’re having a hearing. Having said that, this is a bill that was introduced last Thursday. We tried to get a minority witness to appear but we haven’t had time to make that happen.
“This bill is well-intended but it appears on the surface to be – this is as polite as I can about it – somewhat more comprehensive and beneficial than it really needs to be to solve the immediate problem. It’s certainly something that needs to be addressed. I’m told that there are several state and national initiatives trying to address it right now, Mr. Chairman, so I’m a little bit perplexed that a bill was introduced last Thursday and we’re having a hearing on today.
“Again, I’m glad you have a lot of witnesses – that’s a good thing – but if I had to vote on this legislation today, I would vote no. If we can narrow the legislation down, if we can target it to those who are most in need of help, there’s certainly some gold in the legislation. But there’s also, as it’s currently drafted, some hidden costs that don’t necessarily need to be borne, in my opinion, by the federal taxpayers. I’ve got another hearing going on downstairs. It’s good that we’re having the hearing. We need to address the problem. Again, Mr. Fossella has been an absolute champion on this issue for a number of years. We know he’s absolutely sincere about it. I can say the same thing about Mr. Nadler, Ms. Maloney, Mr. King but sometimes haste does make waste and this particular bill may be an example of that.”
