U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand released the following statement on the 23rd anniversary of 9/11:
“Twenty-three years after the darkest day in our nation’s history, we must continue to honor our promise to never forget,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The heroes on the ground that day – many of them now suffering from cancer and other serious illnesses – deserve guaranteed access to health care. Congress established the World Trade Center Health Program in 2011, and I’m proud that this week, we expanded the program to cover more responders at the Pentagon and Shanksville sites. But yet again, the program is facing a funding shortfall. Today, I’m calling on Congress to pass the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act, legislation that would permanently fund the 9/11 health program and ensure that no survivor has to worry about losing coverage year after year. We owe our 9/11 heroes a tremendous debt, and it is past time to get this done.”
The 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act would provide permanent and mandatory funding for the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and update an outdated funding formula to prevent a future funding shortfall and ensure that survivors and first responders don’t lose access to care.
After years of efforts and calls on the federal government, Congress established the WTCHP on a bipartisan basis in 2011 with a five-year authorization to provide medical treatment and monitoring for 9/11 responders and survivors suffering from the effects of the toxins at Ground Zero. The program covers the lifespans of all exposed, including responders and survivors of the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the Shanksville crash site, children who were in schools in downtown Manhattan on 9/11 and during clean-up, and those who have since experienced, or are expected to experience, adverse health effects that are linked to the attacks in the coming years. The program was reauthorized in 2015 and extended through 2090 with bipartisan support. In 2022, lawmakers delivered $1 billion for the WTCHP in the end-of-year spending bill, and in 2023, they secured an additional $676 million for the program.
Unfortunately, this funding is not enough to keep pace with the anticipated costs of providing the program’s services for over 120,000 9/11 responders and survivors, who span all fifty states and 434 of the 435 congressional districts. Without additional funding, the WTCHP will have to start making cuts to services for 9/11 responders and survivors and start turning away new responders and survivors who become sick from 9/11-related conditions.