Washington, DC – “We welcome Chairman Enzi’s announcement today that the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will conduct hearings on the crisis facing our police officers, firefighters, paramedics, trade and construction workers, residents, and others who responded to Ground Zero and Fresh Kills in the days following the September 11th attacks. We introduced the 9/11 Heroes Health Improvement Act of 2006 – modeled after an amendment Senators Clinton and Schumer offered to the SAFE Port Act last week – that would authorize $1.9 billion in grants for ongoing medical and mental health treatment and monitoring for those exposed to the dust and toxins in the days, weeks, and months following the attacks. It is our hope that the HELP Committee will not only hold hearings but also mark-up legislation that we can get to the President’s desk and enacted into law. Thanks to the scientific work conducted by the Mt. Sinai Medical Center, we know that there is a connection between illnesses in many of these heroes and their presence in the impacted area during those dark times. We must act swiftly. We cannot wait until more of these heroes become sicker or die. We will do everything we can to move this legislation forward and we look forward to working with Chairman Enzi to achieve our goal of making sure these individuals receive an appropriate level of support.”

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