Washington, DC - “I am very pleased that the President responded to my request that he meet with Ceasar Borja Jr. and his family. It was important that this courageous young man have a chance to make his case directly to the President that those suffering health effects as a result of their service at Ground Zero receive the treatment they need and deserve. I am hopeful that the Administration will make good on its commitment to make funding available so that those suffering will receive treatment. I am grateful for this first step but there is a long road ahead. Thousands who selflessly risked their lives and their health at Ground Zero will need help in the months and years to come and I will keep pressing for additional funding to make sure that we uphold our responsibility to take care of those who took care of us.”

In a letter sent Monday, Senator Clinton asked President Bush to meet with Borja. The full text of the letter follows.

January 29, 2007

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I understand that you will be coming to New York City on Wednesday, January 31, to deliver a speech to the Association for a Better New York. While you are in New York City, I ask that you accept the request of Ceasar Borja Jr. to meet with you. He is the 21-year old son of Cesar Borja, a retired New York Police Department officer who for many months following September 11, 2001, worked 16-hour shifts at Ground Zero. Cesar Borja died last week from the critical condition of pulmonary fibrosis on the same day that his son was attending the State of the Union address in an effort to bring attention to our continuing obligation to help those who sacrificed their lives and health on 9/11 and in the days and weeks afterward.

Cesar Borja was a hero who served his country in her hour of need and sacrificed dearly for that service. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, as Cesar's health deteriorated, he and his family endured a great deal of hardship but never lost sight of the needs of the other workers, volunteers, first responders, and victims who survived the attacks but did not survive unharmed. His spirit will live on in the strength of their love and courage to speak out about the illness that took his life and threatens the lives of so many more.

Ceasar Borja, Jr. is one of so many whose lives have been changed by the devastating health effects of 9/11. He is working his way through Hunter College in New York City, studying media and journalism, but he had to take leave from his job to help care for his mother and two younger siblings. People are still carrying incredible burdens in the aftermath of 9/11 – still sacrificing, still suffering. Last year, members of the New York Congressional delegation and labor community managed to restore and redirect $75 million in federal 9/11 worker aid for the treatment of 9/11-related health problems affecting the firefighters, police officers, first responders, workers and volunteers who labored at the site in the greatest rescue and recovery operation in the history of our nation. What we secured so far is only a down payment in repaying our debt to those who came to assist us in our hour of need.

On December 18, 2006, some of the other members of the New York Delegation and I met with Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. John Agwunobi and learned that the federal funding for the World Trade Center Treatment Program is expected to run out some time in the summer of 2007– unless we act. This goes to the heart of our responsibilities as a nation, and how we confront threats manmade and natural, from terrorism to floods and hurricanes – both how we prepare and how we respond. It says, we are prepared as a nation – and prepared to honor our commitments.

Ceasar Borja Jr. has expressed an interest in meeting you to talk about the need for this critical funding. I hope you will honor him, his family and all those who have lost loved ones as a result of the 9/11 attacks by meeting with him when you are in New York City this week. Please have your office contact my office to schedule this meeting or if you have any questions.

Sincerely yours,

Hillary Rodham Clinton