Our 9/11 heroes deserve to be taken care of

USW International President Leo W. Gerard sent letters on behalf of the union’s 1.2 million members and retirees explaining our support. And Steelworkers joined firefighters, police, construction workers and others who helped respond to and clean up the devastation of the terrorist attack.

 

“This important legislation will reauthorize health care and compensation programs for 9/11 survivors and rescuers who are sick, injured, and dying from illnesses caused by their exposures to toxic materials that day. The heroes who saved others on that terrible day did so without regard to their own future health. They acted with patriotic spirit and concern for their fellow human beings, with no thought that they may suffer from cancer or another debilitating illness ten or fifteen years later,” Gerard wrote the letters to the House and Senate.

 

Nearly 33,000 people across the country have already become sick or injured due to the attacks on 9/11. Without reauthorization and full funding of the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, 72,000 heroic Americans will lose access to medical monitoring or treatment. Additionally, those 12,150 disabled rescuers who have already been deemed eligible for compensation will likely have their assistance cut in half.