Health Care for 9/11 Responders

On September 10, 2007, the Subcommittee held a field hearing in New York City to continue its oversight of health care for 9/11 responders.

Chairman Towns said:

Six years ago, toxic clouds of smoke from the World Trade Center hung above lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and other parts of our city.  That day and in the weeks that followed, first responders, construction workers and volunteers came to ground zero to work on the rescue and recovery effort.

We now know that many of them have become victims of 9/11 as well, facing health challenges such as pulmonary fibrosis, post traumatic stress disorder, and more.

In February, we asked the federal officials at Health and Human Services for more support of health care programs for first responders.  We were told that the Administration was working on a report from a task force, which would come up with a plan.  Now more than six months later, we still don’t have a final report or a plan from the Administration for dealing with the long range health consequences of 9/11. 

HHS needs to produce a plan – even six years later.   New Yorkers are still dealing with the long term health effects from this tragedy and we intend to hold the Administration accountable.