    [House Hearing, 116 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

      THE NEED TO REAUTHORIZE THE SEPTEMBER 11TH VICTIM COMPENSATION FUND

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

       SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL JUSTICE

                                     OF THE

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                             Tuesday, June 11, 2019

                               Serial No. 116-26

             Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

                      [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                   Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov

                                  ___________

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

    44-133                    WASHINGTON : 2021

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                       JERROLD NADLER, New York, Chairman
                   MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania, Vice-Chair
    ZOE LOFGREN, California              DOUG COLLINS, Georgia, Ranking
    SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas                Member
    STEVE COHEN, Tennessee               F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr.,
    HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,          Wisconsin
        Georgia                          DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL, Florida
    THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida          VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
    KAREN BASS, California               STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
    CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana        LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
    HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York         JIM JORDAN, Ohio
    DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island     KEN BUCK, Colorado
    ERIC SWALWELL, California            JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas
    TED LIEU, California                 MARTHA ROBY, Alabama
    JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland               MATT GAETZ, Florida
    PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana
    VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida          ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
    J. LUIS CORREA, California           TOM MCCLINTOCK, California
    SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas              DEBBIE LESKO, Arizona
    JOE NEGUSE, Colorado                 GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania
    LUCY MCBATH, Georgia                 BEN CLINE, Virginia
    GREG STANTON, Arizona                KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
    MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania         W. GREGORY STEUBE, Florida

            PERRY APELBAUM, Majority Staff Director & Chief Counsel
                    BRENDAN BELAIR, Minority Staff Director

      SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

    STEVE COHEN, Tennessee, Chair        MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana, Ranking
    JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland                   Member
    ERIC SWALWELL, California            LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
    MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania       JIM JORDAN, Ohio
    MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania         GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania
    SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas              BEN CLINE, Virginia
    VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas              KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
    SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas

                           JAMES PARK, Chief Counsel
                         PAUL TAYLOR, Minority Counsel

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                             Tuesday, June 11, 2019

                                                                       Page

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

    The Honorable Steve Cohen, Chairman, Subcommittee on the
      Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties................     1
    The Honorable Mike Johnson, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on the
      Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties................     3
    The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, Committee on the
      Judiciary......................................................     5
    The Honorable Doug Collins, Ranking Member, Committee on the
      Judiciary......................................................     8

                                    WITNESS

    The Honorable Carolyn B. Maloney, Member of Congress.............     9
      Oral Testimony.................................................     9
      Prepared Testimony.............................................    11
    The Honorable Peter T. King, Member of Congress..................    12
      Oral Testimony.................................................    12
      Prepared Testimony.............................................    16
    Rupa Bhattacharyya, Special Master, September 11th Victim
      Compensation Fund..............................................    17
      Oral Testimony.................................................    17
      Prepared Testimony.............................................    18
    Jacqueline Moline, Chair, Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and
      Prevention, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at
      Hofstra/Northwell..............................................    26
      Oral Testimony.................................................    26
      Prepared Testimony.............................................    29
    Lila Nordstrom, 9/11 Survivor....................................   101
      Oral Testimony.................................................   101
      Prepared Testimony.............................................   103
    Anesta Maria St. Rose Henry, Widow of Candidus Henry,
      Construction Worker and 9/11 Responder.........................   106
      Oral Testimony.................................................   106
      Prepared Testimony.............................................   107
    Thomas J. Mohnal, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation
      (Ret.) and 9/11 Responder......................................   108
      Oral Testimony.................................................   108
      Prepared Testimony.............................................   110
    Michael O'Connell, Lieutenant, Fire Department of New York (Ret.)
      and 9/11 Responder.............................................   113
      Oral Testimony.................................................   113
      Prepared Testimony.............................................   115
    Luis Alvarez, Detective, New York Police Department (Ret.) and 9/
      11 Responder...................................................   116
      Oral Testimony.................................................   116
      Prepared Testimony.............................................   117
    Jon Stewart, Advocate for 9/11 Responders and Survivors..........   118
      Oral Testimony.................................................   118
      Prepared Testimony.............................................   120

              LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING

    Item for the record submitted by the Honorable Sheila Jackson
      Lee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil
      Liberties......................................................   137

                          THE NEED TO REAUTHORIZE THE
                             SEPTEMBER 11TH VICTIM
                               COMPENSATION FUND

                             Tuesday, June 11, 2019

                            House of Representatives

      Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties

                           Committee on the Judiciary

                                 Washington, DC

        The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:04 a.m., in
    Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steve Cohen
    [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding.
        Present: Representatives Cohen, Nadler, Raskin, Scanlon,
    Dean, Garcia, Escobar, Jackson Lee, Johnson, Collins, Gohmert,
    Jordan, Armstrong, and Cline.
        Staff Present: David Greengrass, Senior Counsel; John Doty,
    Senior Advisor; Lisette Morton, Director Policy, Planning, and
    Member Services; Madeline Strasser, Chief Clerk; Moh Sharma,
    Member Services and Outreach Advisor; Susan Jensen,
    Parliamentarian/Senior Counsel; James Park, Chief Counsel; Will
    Emmons, Professional Staff Member; Paul Taylor, Minority
    Counsel; and Andrea Woodard, Minority Republican Professional
    Staff Member.
        Mr. Cohen. The Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the
    Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will come to
    order.
        Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a
    recess of the Subcommittee at any time.
        I welcome everyone to today's hearing on the need to
    reauthorize the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. I will
    now recognize myself for an opening statement.
        September 11, 2001 was among the deadliest days in American
    history with almost 3,000 lives lost in New York, at the
    Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, because of the
    terrorist attacks on the United States on that horrible day.
        The casualty number is much higher than oft-cited
    statistics tell us. The fact is that we really do not know the
    full casualty count from the events of that day even now almost
    18 years later. That is because, years after 9/11, tens of
    thousands of first responders who ran toward the raging
    infernos and toxic clouds unleashed on that day, as well as
    Members of the community surrounding the 9/11 crash site in New
    York, continue to develop and suffer from cancers and other
    severe diseases that have prematurely ended their lives or
    undermined their employment and life prospects. Indeed, by one
    estimate, up to 400,000 people may be at risk of developing 9/
    11-related illnesses, and many of these people may not even be
    aware of that fact.
        In recognition of this continued suffering, Congress, among
    other things, reopened the September 11th Victim Compensation
    Fund in legislation passed in 2010, signed into law in 2011,
    and authorized the Victims Compensation Fund for 5 years.
    Congress established the original fund just 1one days after 9/
    11 to provide compensation for those who were physically
    injured by the attacks and for relatives of those who were
    killed. That original fund operated from 2001 to 2004 and
    awarded over $7 billion.
        When it reopened the fund in 2011, Congress expanded the
    eligibility criteria to include workers who assisted with
    debris removal in the months after the attacks. Congress then
    reauthorized the fund in 2015 for an additional 5 years and is
    currently set to expire in December of 2020.
        In reopening the Victims Compensation Fund, Congress was
    addressing the fact that responders and recovery workers
    reported significant higher risks of lower and upper
    respiratory diseases than the general population within 5 years
    of the 9/11 attacks, and 70 percent of the 9/11 first
    responders suffer from new or worsened respiratory symptoms in
    that time period.
        These diseases only worsened in severity over time as they
    developed into interstitial lung disease and sarcoidosis
    conditions of which lung function substantially deteriorates
    preventing adequate oxygen from entering the bloodstream and
    vital organs and leading to additional life-threatening
    conditions like pulmonary disease.
        Now, we are seeing that one of our witnesses, Dr.
    Jacqueline Moline, characterizes as a third wave of 9/11-
    related illnesses, including increased cancer rate among first
    responders and community Members since 2015.
        Part of that reason is that cancer can have a very long
    latency period, meaning the symptoms of the disease may not
    manifest in a person for decades after the initial exposure to
    carcinogens. In the face of these trends, the fund, which is
    overseen by the Department of Justice, has done an admirable
    job. As of April 30, 2019, the Victims Compensation Fund
    received nearly 50,000 claims, found 24,000 claimants to be
    eligible for compensation--it is about half--and made
    additional or revised awards for 28,000 claims; awarded a total
    of than $5 billion as of April 30.
        Unfortunately, the fund is now facing a funding crisis, one
    that is not of its own making. When Congress reauthorized the
    Victims Compensation Fund in 2105, it prohibited the fund from
    spending more than the appropriated $7.4 billion to pay awards
    in administrative expenses.
        By law, the fund must annually reassess its policies and
    procedures to assure, among other things, that it does not
    exceed the spending cap.
        Yet, since 2015, the Victims Compensation Fund has seen an
    increase in claims driven by various factors, including a
    marked increase in cancer claims and claims from the survivor
    population. The result is that, effective February 25, 2019,
    the fund was forced to institute substantial cuts to pending
    and future awards: 50 percent cuts for claims on or before
    February 1, 2019, and 70 percent cuts for claims filed
    thereafter.
        Congress has proposed a solution, H.R. 1327, the Never
    Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September
    11th Victim Compensation Fund Act, would authorize the VCF
    until 2090 to ensure that sufficient funds are available to pay
    future claims, require payment of any award amounts that were
    cut, and make a number of other useful changes. By enacting
    this legislation, we will not have to force 9/11 responders and
    survivors to come begging to Congress every 5 years to step up
    and do the right thing.
        I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bill. I am proud
    because this is not simply a New York event. I see Mr. Zeldin
    is here, who represents part of New York and is showing his
    interest, as well as Mrs. Maloney and Mr. King. Mr. Nadler has
    been a champion of this issue and as chairman of this Committee
    and primarily responsible for this hearing. This was an
    American tragedy, an American event, and I recall it so
    vividly.
        I was in New York within a month and going to a baseball
    championship game and ran into Guiliani, who, at the time, was
    a friendly guy, and got me somehow down to 9/11. I went down
    there and had my mask, and you name it, walked around in the
    debris.
        I commend all of you for what you did. You put yourself and
    your life at risk. We know that, and you need to be
    compensated. You are American heroes.
        Representatives Maloney and King have introduced the bill
    that will affect the work on behalf of 9/11 responders and
    survivors. I thank them. I thank Representative Collins for his
    cosponsorship of the bill. I am thankful for the responders for
    their service and sacrifice for our country. Grateful to them,
    the survivors, and all the witnesses in to testify before us
    today.
        This is a bit unusual, because this is my Subcommittee
    which I chair, and I am chairing it now. It is a special moment
    for Mr. Nadler. This is an issue that is very close to him and
    his constituents. For that reason, I will surrender the chair
    to him to oversee this meeting, which is appropriate. I guess
    this is the time that I will do it. I don't know if it is the
    right time, but this is the time I am doing it.
        Well, I will recognize Mr. Johnson then, and then I am
    surrendering the chair.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. All right. Thank you.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Chairman.
        The tragic events of September 11, 2001, in New York, in
    Pennsylvania, and Virginia took innocent lives on American soil
    on a scale not seen since the attack on Pearl Harbor. It also
    unified the country as brave first responders searched for
    bodies and headed a massive recovery effort.
        In New York, the first responders did this amidst a
    smoldering pile of over 220 stories of building crushed into a
    dense accumulated mountain of steaming hot toxic chemicals that
    burned for months. My wife and I visited that site just a month
    after, and it was still seemingly on fire.
        Many sacrificed their own health in their efforts to help
    their fellow Americans in and around debris that included two
    steel beams in the shape a cross, which now rests in the
    National September 11 Memorial and Museum.
        Just as that cross stood as a sign of hope for so many, so
    too do our programs to help take care of those to whom we owe
    our deepest gratitude.
        After 9/11, a federally funded program was created to
    compensate and pay medical expenses for those who developed
    respiratory and other illnesses related primarily to the
    rehabilitation of the site of the former World Trade Center.
    Payments made from the fund are administered by a special
    master who has announced that the fund is running out of money
    and with some current and future claims that are yet unpaid.
    That fund was authorized in the manner in which all Federal
    programs should be authorized, namely for a limited duration
    within which time Congress is able to periodically revisit the
    program's operation and fiscal solvency before potentially
    reauthorizing and funding it further as it goes forward into
    the future.
        The special master who runs this program and who is with us
    here today is a very well regarded public servant, and I am
    aware of no problems with the program's Administration. We have
    a lot of confidence in this program.
        So, I support reauthorizing the program in a manner that is
    fair to everyone. This is unquestionably the right thing to do,
    and I expect that this bill will pass with broad bipartisan
    support.
        I am personally myself the son of a firefighter who was
    critically burned and permanently disabled in the line of duty
    back in 1984. And I know the sacrifices and the needs of these
    heroes and their families personally. In addition to my dad
    being burned over 80 percent of his body, third-degree burns,
    he inhaled toxic chemicals in a fire, and he suffered the
    remaining 32 years of his life as a result of that tragedy.
        The only concern we have here, and you will hear people
    talk about it, is just the latest proposal to reauthorize the
    program, H.R. 1327, creates an unlimited authorization for
    appropriations for the fund and extends it until the year 2090.
    The Congressional Budget Office isn't able to determine the
    cost of such an extended program. Of course, its rules limit it
    to predicting costs just 10 years out.
        So, right now, we have a $22 trillion Federal debt. That is
    just the thing that keeps us up at night. It makes us have to
    address these issues as responsibly as possible. I know
    everyone here understands and feels that burden.
        Our objective, of course, is fairness to all. By all, we
    mean all Americans, including first responders nationwide who
    have heeded the call to service through the smoldering remains
    of terrorist attacks but also through the dense wildfire smoke
    of California and the wreckage following a Kansas tornado and
    the floods in Louisiana and all other disasters and tragedies
    everywhere.
        We have to approach the reauthorization of this fund today
    in the same way we would approach any fund designed to
    compensate first responders nationwide and other similar
    circumstances in a way capable of making future funds available
    for future heroes as well.
        With that, we look forward to hearing from all of our
    witnesses here today, including those who work so selflessly
    under very dangerous conditions to help our Nation heal.
        I yield back the balance of my time.
        Chairman Nadler. [Presiding.] Thank you, Mr. Johnson.
        I now recognize myself for an opening statement.
        Eighteen years ago, on September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden
    orchestrated the deadliest terrorist attack in American
    history, killing almost 3,000 people in a single day and
    wounding thousands of more. In New York City, the attack
    happened in my district. The attacks created an environmental
    nightmare when the Twin Towers collapsed in Lower Manhattan.
    Hundreds of tons of contaminates poured onto the streets and
    covered first responders, residents, office workers, and
    students in a cloud of dust.
        When many of us think of 9/11, we think of planes flying
    into the Twin Towers or we see the towers collapsing. There
    other pictures that day that captured the gravity of the loss,
    the scale of the destruction, and the massive amounts of toxins
    that were released into the air on that Tuesday morning. I want
    to share those images with you today.
        As you can see, if you look at the jumbotrons, I suppose.
    As you can see, New York City was covered in toxic ash. The air
    was full of debris, dust, and other deadly toxins. Many of my
    constituents were forced to flee their homes. Firefighters,
    police, and rescue and recovery workers from around the country
    came to our aid, working in horrible dangerous conditions to
    help one another and help the United States get back on its
    feet.
        I was in Washington with my wife when the attacks began,
    and we immediately rushed to return to New York City by train
    that day since all flights had been grounded. What sticks with
    me from that day was eerie silence that greeted us when we
    stepped out of Penn Station. The city seemed empty. Nothing
    moving. No people. No cars. No buses. No subway trains.
    Nothing. The only thing that was there was a strange odor that
    hung in the air.
        The next day, on September 12th, I walked the streets of
    Lower Manhattan through the rivers of ash and debris, and I saw
    the thinkable damage. I was there with then-Mayor Giuliani. We
    were soon joined by then-President George Bush, then-Senator
    Hillary Clinton, and Senator Chuck Schumer. There was no
    question in our minds that we must work together in a
    bipartisan manner to do what it took to get New York back on
    its feet, to get the country moving again, and to get help for
    everyone affected by the attacks.
        Within days following the attack, a problem arose. The EPA
    insisted, contrary to ample evidence, that the air in Lower
    Manhattan in Brooklyn was safe to breath. That was not true. It
    was an untruth that caused many thousands of people to become
    sick and, tragically, for many of those same people to die. It
    was an untruth I worked for many years to expose. Because as we
    knew even then, the air was not safe to breathe. In fact, it
    was deadly.
        Thousands of responders from all over the country worked on
    the site. Thousands and thousands of responders and workers and
    residents were exposed to horrible toxins and were not provided
    with protective equipment. The Federal Government did not step
    in to conduct a proper comprehensive cleanup of the schools,
    offices, and residents in Lower Manhattan. They told my
    constituents to clean up asbestos and other toxins from their
    apartments with a damp cloth and no protective equipment.
        Today, as a result of the attacks and as a result of those
    lies, more than 95,000 responders and survivors are sick. It
    was for those tens of thousands of brave selfless and innocent
    responders and survivors that Congress came together in 2010,
    after years of struggles and negotiations, to pass the James
    Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act and to fulfill our
    moral obligation, as Lincoln said, to care for him who shall
    have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.
        The Zadroga Act established a national health program to
    care for those made sick by exposure to toxins in the days,
    weeks, and months after the 9/11 attack. It also reopened the
    Victim Compensation Fund, the VCF, to provide support for sick
    responders or survivors.
        As the programs are set to expire in 2015, Congress once
    again came together in a bipartisan manner and reauthorized
    them. We made the health program essentially permanent and set
    the expiration date far into the future, the year 2090,
    ensuring that all those affected by the attacks on September
    11, 2001, would have the healthcare they need for as long as
    they need it. The 2015 reauthorization only extended the VCF
    for 5 years.
        Today, the programs are mostly working. Residents of 433
    out of 435 congressional districts receive care through the 9/
    11 health program. More than 28,000 individuals representing
    all 50 States have been found eligible for compensation from
    the VCF. More than $5.1 billion has been awarded.
        Our actions as a Congress have touched many lives, provided
    comfort to the sick, and helped families struggling with the
    loss of a loved one to pay the bills and send children to
    college. We know all too well that people who are sick now will
    only get sicker. Unfortunately, many will die. Those who are
    not sick now may become sick years in the future as diseases
    surface after long latency periods. We are already seeing the
    impact that long delay cancers have had. Nearly 11,000
    responders and survivors have been diagnosed with cancer to
    date, a number which will only go up. It is clear the 5-year
    reauthorization was not nearly long enough.
        Further, as the number of sick responders and survivors
    continues to rise, the limited resources Congress provided to
    the VCF have been strained. Now, because of the greater number
    of sick people anticipated, the thousands of sick responders
    and survivors are facing up to 70 percent cuts in compensation
    because the money is running out. These cuts were certainly not
    intended by Congress, and we know that the Administration and
    the special master are not making these cuts maliciously.
    Rather, the VCF is working to keep the funded--I am sorry--is
    working to keep the program funded as long as possible to give
    every sick responder and survivor at least some compensation.
        That does not mean we can simply accept these cuts and
    allow the program to expire when so many more men, women, and
    young adults will need compensation and care. That is what
    brings us here today. A 70-percent cut in compensation to
    victims of 9/11 is simply intolerable, and Congress must not
    allow it. Congress also must not allow the VCF to expire while
    people are still sick and the World Trade Center Health Program
    is still operational. The time has come for us to act.
        In the past, I would have had to call upon the Committee
    chairman to call a hearing or to schedule a markup on
    legislation to address these problems. Today, as chairman of
    the Judiciary Committee, I am able to convene this hearing and
    to announce that we will not wait to mark up this legislation.
    We will hold a markup of this legislation tomorrow.
        There are two moral imperatives that dictate why we must
    act. Number one, it was America that was attacked on 9/11, not
    just New York or Washington, DC.
        Number two, it was the Federal Government that bears some
    responsibility because it told everyone it was safe to return
    to Lower Manhattan when it knew that it was not. Now the
    Federal Government must bear the burden to care for and support
    the people affected by the September 11 attacks and their
    aftermath.
        Again, I am proud to work in a bipartisan manner with my
    long-time colleagues Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Peter
    King and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer to
    reauthorize these critical programs. I am pleased that we also
    have the support of Senator Cory Gardner and our very own
    Ranking Member of the full Judiciary Committee, Representative
    Doug Collins. In fact, we have more than 300 bipartisan
    cosponsors of this bill in the House. I want to thank the
    people in this room for everything they have done to get so
    many congressional cosponsors so quickly. I urge all of my
    colleagues to work with us and support a reauthorization and to
    move this bill through Congress to the President's desk as
    quickly as possible.
        Just as we stood together as a Nation the days following
    September 11, 2001, and just as we stood together in 2010 and
    2015 to authorize and fund these vital programs, we must now
    join forces one more time to ensure that the heroes of 9/11 are
    not abandoned when they need us most. We must sustain the VCF.
    We must protect the heroes and survivors of 9/11. We must pass
    the Never Forget the Heroes Act of 2019, and we will.
        Before I yield back, I want to add one more thing. For many
    people in this country, and perhaps even people on this
    committee, 9/11 ended that day. Perhaps they light a candle in
    church every year on the anniversary. Perhaps they pray for the
    victims. For our panel of witnesses today, for many people in
    the audience, for Congresswoman Maloney, for Congressman King,
    and for me and my staff, 9/11 never ended. We live every day
    with the events of that morning and the impact of the decisions
    made by the Federal Government in the aftermath.
        While I know it can be frustrating watching a body as large
    as the U.S. Congress work its will, when we do act, we can
    bring tremendous resources and the strength of the entire
    Federal Government to bear on a problem, and we can improve the
    lives of so many. It is my hope and my sincere wish that
    Congress will Act swiftly to stop these devastating cuts, to
    extend this program, and to provide as much peace of mind as we
    possibly can to those who continue to suffer from the 9/11
    attacks. We will never forget.
        I yield back.
        It is now my pleasure to recognize the Ranking Member of
    the full committee, the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Collins,
    for his opening statement.
        Mr. Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a day in
    which we do come together in this committee, I think with a
    common purpose. I want to thank Congresswoman Maloney and
    Congressman King. Also my friend Lee Zeldin, who has a number
    of these folks in his district, along with you, Mr. Chairman,
    who have been carrying this fight. Because as we look across
    what are talking about here, we have to remember that, on that
    day, depraved Islamic terrorists designed September 11 attacks
    to murder as many innocent Americans as possible either on that
    day or in the future is what happened.
        Those attacks killed almost 3,000 people and left a
    smoldering pile of toxic debris in New York. In the wake of
    such depravity, thousands of rescuers responded with nobility
    and courage. First responders scaled smoldering piles of
    debris, exhumed victims with dignity, and restored Ground Zero
    to its current place in the center of a loving, resilient
    community, a place that includes the National September 11
    Memorial.
        Even yesterday, this lives on, as I heard a story just
    yesterday that they had identified another victim 18 years
    later. No one is forgotten. No one is left behind. That is what
    our country symbolizes.
        It is also fitting Congress do more than memorialize it. We
    must help take care of those heroes. The 9/11 first responders,
    like all first responders, deserve to have their sacrifices
    recognized. This program will mitigate the damage these public
    servants and their families experienced as a direct result of
    their sacrifice on behalf of others.
        Legislation has been introduced to reauthorize the current
    September 11 Victims Compensation Fund. While the fiscal impact
    of this legislation isn't clear at the moment, what is clear is
    our collective duty to see that our first responders are
    treated fairly in accordance with what they have already given
    to a grateful Nation.
        I must also say on a personal note: You never forget. I
    carried the images that I am proud Chairman actually showed
    this morning with me when I was in Iraq. For the time I served
    there was a reminder of the service that had already been
    given, not knowing on that morning what would happen but
    knowing on that morning it will not be forgotten. What we are
    seeing today is--I can remember back as a chaplain, what I
    serve as in Air Force, and still do, 19 years later, is I
    remember Chaplain Judge being carried out, the first, the
    honest sacrifice of one serving others and the many that were
    to follow. Those are the images that bring us to this hearing
    today. We can have differences. But they became heroes, angels
    in heaven, if you would, without asking. They began that day
    with hope, with love on a morning very similar as today. Out of
    the fires of terror revealed the steel of our country. It is
    still revealed in our people today.
        With that, it is our time to act. It is our time to finish
    this. It is our time to remember the work, the life, the
    pictures, and the families that we will never forget. In fact,
    we will look back on and find our strength in those who went
    before and who are suffering now.
        With that, I yield back.
        Chairman Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Collins.
        Before I introduce the witnesses, I want to note the
    presence here of our colleague Lee Zeldin. I want to take this
    opportunity to thank him for his great work in supporting the
    bill and in gathering a lot of the cosponsors.
        I will now introduce the witnesses on the first panel. The
    Honorable Carolyn Maloney represents the 12th Congressional
    District of New York. She has been a Member of Congress since
    1993. Among her many accomplishments, she is one of the lead
    sponsors of H.R. 1327, the Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent
    Authorization of September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act.
    She has long been a leader in fighting to help victims of the
    9/11 attacks and has been a staunch advocate for the Victim
    Compensation Fund.
        The Honorable Peter King represents the Second
    Congressional District of New York. He has also been a Member
    of Congress since 1993 and, among other things, has been a
    tireless champion of 9/11 responders and survivors. He has long
    worked with Representative Maloney and with me to create the
    World Trade Center Health Program and to reopen and sustain the
    Victim Compensation Fund.
        Please note that your written statements will be entered
    into the record in their entirety. Accordingly, I ask that you
    summarize your testimony in 5 minutes. I am supposed to read
    this, which you know. To help you stay within that time, there
    is a timing light on the table. When the light switches from
    green to yellow, you have 1 minute to conclude your testimony.
    When the light turns red, it signals your 5 minutes have
    expired. I hope the Members of the second panel have heard
    that, so I don't have to repeat that later.
        Representative Maloney, you may begin.

                TESTIMONY OF THE HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

        Mrs. Maloney. Thank you. Thank you, Chairmen Nadler and
    Cohen, Ranking Members Collins and Johnson. I want to thank you
    for inviting me to testify today on the Never Forget the
    Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim
    Compensation Fund, which I introduced with Chairman Nadler,
    King, and 90 of our colleagues.
        Today, we are proud to have a strongly bipartisan bill with
    306 cosponsors; 80 of them are Republican. I am grateful that
    the Committee recognizes the importance of supporting 9/11
    responders, survivors, and their families and the urgency of
    passing this bill as soon as possible.
        We recently remembered D-Day, a day when all Americans came
    together to defend democracy, liberty, and freedom. Though we
    are not Members of the greatest generation, our first
    responders have defended and many gave their lives for just
    those same values.
        On September 11, this country was horrifically attacked
    killing exactly 2,997 innocent people. They were murdered, and
    a thousand more were injured in New York, Shanksville,
    Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon simply for being American or
    being on American soil.
        Yet, it still gets worse. The death toll from that terrible
    day continues to grow. In the years since 9/11, tens of
    thousands more men and women, including first responders,
    relief workers, local residents have lost their lives or gotten
    sick as a result of their exposure to toxic chemicals,
    pulverized glass, powdered cement at the crash sites even
    though the U.S. Government told them repeatedly over and over
    again that it was safe to work at the site.
        Soon deaths from 9/11 diseases may outnumber those lost on
    that fateful day. 9/11 was an attack on America. In response,
    our Nation committed to finding those responsible and holding
    them accountable. The first veterans of the war on terror were
    the first responders, the volunteers, and the survivors of 9/
    11. Today, they live all over the country in 433 out of the 435
    congressional districts. They are firefighters, police
    officers, construction workers, electrical engineers,
    volunteers from every single State who answered the call and
    traveled to New York or D.C. or Pennsylvania to help with the
    recovery.
        We have a moral obligation to provide support and
    compensation to these heroes and their families. Not only did
    they come to our aid when we needed them, but many are sick
    because they trusted the Federal Government when it said that
    the air around Ground Zero was safe to breathe.
        In October 2011, a 9-year fight, the James Zadroga 9/11
    Health and Compensation Act of 2010 was signed into law,
    establishing the World Trade Center Health Program and
    reopening and revising the September 11 Victims Compensation
    Fund. These programs provide health monitoring and financial
    compensation to first responders, survivors, and their
    families.
        In 2015, I am proud to say that Congress permanently
    reauthorized the health program. The Victims Compensation Fund
    will expire next year if we don't Act because it was only given
    a 5-year extension. Making matters worse, the special master of
    the fund announced in February that the fund would not make it
    to 2020 because of a funding shortfall partly due to the
    increase in cancer claims. To extend its life, the VCF was
    forced to cut all pending awards by 50 to 70 percent. This was
    devastating to the survivors and their families. For the last 3
    1/2 months, they have not been getting the help they deserve,
    the help that our Nation owes them.
        Since February 2019, more than 830 compensation recipients
    have received reduced awards from the VCF because of this
    shortfall. This is unacceptable, and we need to correct it.
    They shouldn't have to worry about the program running out of
    funding, and they should not have to come back to Congress
    every 5 years to beg for program reauthorization. That kind of
    uncertainty is unfair and unsustainable. Our legislation would
    make these families whole by requiring the special master to
    revisit these reduced claims and pay out the differences.
        I must tell you that, as evidenced by the more than 300
    cosponsors of the Never Forget the Heroes Act, this is not a
    Democrat or Republican issue or a New York issue. These are
    Americans of all political persuasions in every corner of our
    country who are counting on us. Our whole country owes them a
    debt, a debt that we can never fully repay.
        Look at the people who are sitting here with us today.
    These are the heroes and the heroines, the reasons that we are
    fighting so hard for this program. I want to conclude by
    recognizing them and thanking them and their families for the
    hours that they have spent lobbying, working to get this
    program reauthorized. You will hear from a few of them today.
    They continue to be our inspiration every single day that we
    fight for their healthcare and their financial security.
        As much as I love being with them and talking to them, they
    should not have to come back to Congress for another
    reauthorization. We are counting on you to make this program
    permanent, to reauthorize it. That is the least that we can do
    as a grateful Nation.
        Thank you.
        [The statement of Mrs. Maloney follows:]

             PREPARED TESTIMONY OF HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

        Chairmen Nadler and Cohen, Ranking Members Collins and
    Johnson, I want to thank you for inviting me to testify today
    on H.R. 1327, the Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent
    Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
    Act, which I introduced with Chairman Nadler, Congressman King,
    and 90 of our colleagues. Today, we are proud to have a
    strongly bipartisan bill, with 306 cosponsors, 79 of them
    Republicans. I am grateful that the Committee recognizes the
    importance of supporting 9/11 first responders, survivors, and
    their families and the urgency of passing this bill as soon as
    possible.
        On September 11, 2001, our Nation was horrifically
    attacked. Nearly 3,000--exactly 2,997 innocent people were
    brutally murdered and thousands more were injured in New York
    City, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon simply for
    being American or being on American soil.
        Yet, it still gets worse.
        The death toll from that terrible day continues to grow. In
    the years since 9/11, tens of thousands more men and women,
    including first responders, relief workers, and local
    residents, have lost their lives or gotten sick as a result of
    their exposure to toxic chemicals, pulverized drywall, and
    powdered cement at the crash sites even though we, the U.S.
    Government, told them it was safe to be at the sites, to go
    back to work, to go to school.
        Soon, deaths from 9/11 diseases may outnumber those lost on
    that fateful day.
        9/11 was an attack on America and in response, our Nation
    committed to finding those responsible, and holding them
    accountable.
        The first veterans of the War on Terror were the first
    responders, the volunteers and the survivors of 9/11.
        Today they live all over the country--in 433 out of 435
    congressional districts. There are firefighters, police
    officers, construction workers, electrical workers, and
    volunteers from every State who answered the call and traveled
    to DC, Pennsylvania and NY to help with the recovery.
        There are those who lived, worked, and went to school near
    Ground Zero who are now trying to build lives all across the
    country.
        We have a moral obligation to provide support and
    compensation to these heroes and their families. Not only did
    they come to our aid when we needed them, but many are sick
    because they trusted the Federal Government when it said the
    air around Ground Zero was safe to breathe.
        In October 2011, after a 9-year fight, the James Zadroga 9/
    11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 was signed into law,
    establishing the World Trade Center Health Program and
    reopening and revising the September 11th Victim Compensation
    Fund. These programs provide health monitoring and financial
    compensation to first responders, survivors, and their
    families.
        In 2015, I am proud to say that Congress permanently
    reauthorized the health program, but the Victim Compensation
    Fund will expire next year if don't Act because it was only
    given a 5-year extension.
        Making matters worse, the Special Master of the Fund
    announced in February that the fund would not make it to 2020
    because of a funding shortfall, partly due to an increase in
    cancer claims. In order to extend its life, the VCF was forced
    to cut all pending awards by 50 to 70 percent.
        This is devastating for first responders, survivors, and
    their families who depend on this compensation.
        For the last three and a half months, they have not been
    getting the help they deserve, the help our Nation owes them.
        Since February 25, 2019, more than 830 compensation
    recipients have received reduced awards from the Victim
    Compensation Fund because of a funding shortfall.
        This is unacceptable, and we must Act now to correct this.
        They shouldn't have to worry about the program running out
    of funding or need tocome back to Congress every five years to
    beg for program reauthorization. That kind of uncertainty is
    unfair and unsustainable.
        Our legislation would make these families whole by
    requiring the Special Master to revisit these reduced claims
    and pay out the difference. And it would permanently
    reauthorize the fund. The respiratory problems, cancers and
    other illnesses they face are permanent, and this program
    should be as well.
        As evidence by the more than 300 cosponsors of the Never
    Forget the Heroes Act, this isn't a Democratic or Republican
    issue or a New York and New Jersey issue--here are Americans of
    all political persuasions in every corner of our country who
    are counting on us. Our whole country owes them a debt, a debt
    that we can never fully repay.
        Allowing this fund to expire, or run out of the funding it
    needs, sets a dangerous precedent. If, god forbid, our Nation
    ever suffers an attack like this again, first responders must
    know that the Nation will support them and their families.
        Look at who is sitting here with us today--these heroes are
    the reason we fight and I want to conclude by recognizing all
    the first responders, survivors, and family Members of victims
    who have spent countless hours advocating for this bill and the
    VCF.
        You'll hear from a few of them during this hearing. We
    would never have been able to garner the support of our
    colleagues without their tireless dedication and hard work.
        They continue to be my inspiration every single day since
    the fight for their healthcare and financial security began.
        As much as I love my time with them, we would all rather
    they never have to come to DC or Congress again.
        After 9/11, we vowed to never forget. With that promise, we
    committed to making sure these heroes never have to go without
    the support they need. I will tell this Committee what I've
    told many people before--I will not rest, the other people
    testifying before you today will not rest, until we have fully
    honored this commitment.
        This is the very least we can do, as a grateful nation.

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you.
        Let me also note the presence here of another long-time and
    key supporter of the 9/11--of the Zadroga Act and their
    subsequent bills, Congressman Eliot Engel of New York.
        Representative King, you may begin now.

                      TESTIMONY OF HON. PETER KING

        Mr. King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I issued my statement
    for the record.
        I would just like to make a few remarks here on this vital,
    vital bill. I want to thank you. I want to thank your Ranking
    Member, Congressman Collins, Ranking Member Mr. Johnson, and
    also Steve Cohen. This is such a vital bill. It has a human
    aspect to it. I want to also just mention all of the FDNY,
    NYPD, Port Authority cops, EMS workers, court officers,
    construction workers, residents--your residents, Jerry--
    students, all of whom have suffered over the years.
        We went through 6 months of wakes and funerals after 9/11,
    and we thought that was it. Now the last few years, those wakes
    and funerals have started again. Just last week in East Meadow,
    about 10 minutes from my home, a Port Authority lieutenant died
    from 9/11 illness. So, this is something that goes on and on
    and on. And soon we will have more dying after 9/11 than
    actually died on 9/11. That shows how vital this is.
        This is not a New York issue. It is not a New Jersey issue.
    It is definitely a national issue. I want to also take the time
    to thank the special master. I want to reemphasize what you had
    said. This program has been run exceptionally well. The fact
    that it is running out of funds is no reflection at all on the
    Administration of the program. Rather, it is a reflection of
    how deadly these illnesses are and how long they were dormant
    and latent and how deadly they are and how vicious they are.
        All of us knows a friend, a neighbor, a constituent,
    friends of neighbors of constituents who are suffering or have
    died. People who are going back every 3 or 4 months for medical
    tests, taking 20, 30 medications a day, constantly going back
    in for biopsies. This is a real national tragedy, which did not
    end at all on September 11 or September 12.
        Just the other day I got a call from a local radio reporter
    who was just diagnosed several months ago and just finished his
    chemotherapy. He was down there for weeks and months afterwards
    reporting, again, as to what had happened there, what was going
    on.
        As brave as those men and women were who rushed in on
    September 11--and nobody can ever, ever question or even think
    of excelling the bravery they showed--but you said, Jerry, that
    too often we forget what went on those weeks and months
    afterwards when people were down there inhaling those toxic
    fumes involved in the recovery, involved in--doing what they
    could to find the remains of their loved ones. So, again, we
    owe it to all of them.
        Let me give a special thanks to Jon Stewart. There is
    probably not that many issues that Jon Stewart and I would be
    agreeing on, but I have never seen anyone put himself into a
    cause more than this. Not just going on television. That is
    easy for him. What is tough is doing the grunt work of going
    door to door talking to Members of Congress. He has more
    patience than I would have in talking to some Members of
    Congress. He just goes in there. He just will talk and explain,
    tell you why this is a human issue, why it is not a Republican
    or Democrat issues. Again, he just does an excellent job. I
    really want to thank him. I don't think we would have been
    where we were back in 2015 or we would have been where we are
    now if it were not for Jon's efforts.
        So, Jon, I want to thank you for that.
        Also, I want to thank Lee Zeldin, Eliot Engel. Eliot has
    been there from the start. Lee has been there since--ever since
    he came to Congress. And he realizes the true impact of this.
        Again, Ranking Member Johnson, I know you mentioned the
    issue of costs, and that has been to be addressed. On the other
    hand, we have to find a way to get it done. I am not saying it
    is simple, but in many ways, it is. We have an obligation to
    get this done. These are real people who are dying, and we have
    an obligation to them and to their families because they are
    there, not through any fault of theirs but because of their
    courage, because their bravery, because they--and Congressman
    Nadler, some of the residents just lived in the wrong place at
    the wrong time. They were told it was safe to continue living
    there. Students in Stuyvesant High School. These are innocent
    victims. They are the first innocent victims of the first great
    war of the 21st century and we owe it to them. Also, we owe it
    to future generations. If something like this should, God
    forbid, happen in the future, we want people those people who
    are rushing into the buildings, those people who are taking
    care of the recovery, that they know, that they are assured
    that they will receive the compensation from the government
    that they deserve.
        So, again, I am proud to be here today. I can't emphasize
    enough how vital this legislation is. Also to thank the men and
    women behind us who--you know, they are the ones who are
    suffering. Carolyn, you and I, we can talk about it. We can
    sort of argue on the floor of Congress about it. But that is
    nothing compared to what they are going through every day of
    their lives.
        So, with that, I thank you for holding this hearing. I
    thank the Members for their attention. I thank the witnesses
    who are coming after us. I just say that September 11 showed
    the true bravery of the American people. The weeks and months
    after that showed the resilience and bravery of the American
    people. Also, I think if we can get this job done, it will show
    that Congress understands and respects and will always honor
    those who put their lives on the line for their country.
        With that, I yield back.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        [The statement of Mr. King follows:]

                PREPARED TESTIMONY OF REP. PETER T. KING

        Thank you Chairman Nadler and Ranking Member Collins for
    holding today's hearing on the need to reauthorize the
    September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. It is a pleasure to
    appear today with Congresswoman Maloney and before Chairman
    Nadler, both of whom I have worked closely on this critical
    issue. I would also like to thank Ranking Member Collins for
    his support of this bill, as well as the more than 300 Members
    of the House--from both parties--who are cosponsors of this
    legislation.
        The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) was
    created in the aftermath of the horrific attacks on the World
    Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA. Congress has
    since reopened and reauthorized it to provide for sick and
    injured first responders, survivors, and the families of those
    who have died from illnesses due to exposure to toxins during
    the rescue, recovery and cleanup operations at the crash sites.
        This program has been a lifeline for my constituents, and
    for first responders and survivors in nearly every
    Congressional district. To date, the VCF has received over
    48,000 eligibility claims from all fifty states and has made
    over 28,000 determinations since being reopened. The program
    has strong bipartisan backing and has been run effectively by
    the Bush, Obama and Trump Administrations. The application
    process is extremely rigorous and carefully monitored to
    prevent fraud.
        H.R. 847, the Never Forget the Heroes Act, would achieve
    two critical objectives in support of the September 11th VCF:
    Extend it to 2090, which would effectively make it permanent,
    and backfill awards that have been reduced due to insufficient
    funding.
        Each day, more and more first responders and survivors are
    getting sick and dying from their 9/11-related diseases, like
    cancer, respiratory illnesses and other chronic conditions. We
    already know from the 9/11 health programs that these illnesses
    have long latency periods and can decades to manifest. If the
    VCF is not extended past 2020, these men and women will lose
    the ability to seek compensation for these deadly conditions.
        While Congress has previously extended this program for
    five years at a time, we must now make the VCF permanent and
    fully fund it. Cops, firefighters, recovery workers and
    survivors need to know that this program will provide for them
    and their families if and when they get sick. Again, cancers
    and chronic conditions linked to 9/11 toxins can take years to
    show up. They need certainty.
        As it stands, the VCF has been forced to implement drastic
    cuts to awards due to insufficient funding. When the Fund was
    last reauthorized, it was based on the best available data.
    However, due to a surge in cancer claims and deaths, current
    funding is inadequate. Claimants are having their awards
    slashed by 50-70% before offsets are even deducted. Since the
    cuts were announced in February, 835 awards have already been
    reduced. This is a devastating blow to the 9/11 community.
    Congress should immediately pass H.R. 847 to reverse these cuts
    and make claimants whole.
        Very soon, more people will have died from 9/11-related
    illnesses than were murdered on that day. The number of local,
    State and federal law enforcement officers who have died of 9/
    11 illnesses is already more than double that of those who died
    on September 11th. We must fulfill our promise to them to
    ``never forget.''
        Once again, I thank Chairman Nadler and Ranking Member
    Collins for holding today's hearing. I look forward to working
    with you both to pass H.R. 847.

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you, Representative King.
        I obviously share those sentiments. I want to also note the
    presence of several the advocates who have fought so long for
    this legislation. John Field has been one of the leaders of
    them.
        We will now hear from our second panel of witnesses. While
    they are getting seated, I will do the introductions. Rupa
    Bhattacharyya is the special master for the September 11th
    Victim Compensation Fund. She was appointed to that position by
    the Attorney General in July 2016. During her tenure as special
    master, she has overseen the award of over $3.3 billion to more
    than 13,000 eligible claimants. She first joined the Department
    of Justice in 1996 through the Attorney General honors program
    as a trial attorney in the civil division and has spent most of
    her career there eventually rising to director of the torts
    branch prior to her appointment as special master. She received
    her J.D. from Harvard Law School, a master's degree in
    international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and
    Diplomacy at Tufts University, and her bachelor's degree from
    Tulane University.
        Dr. Jacqueline Moline is professor of occupational
    medicine, epidemiology, and prevention, and internal medicine
    at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/
    Northwell. She is also the adjunct clinical associate professor
    of preventive medicine in Mount Sinai School of Medicine. In
    addition, she serves as a member of the World Trade Center
    Health Program steering committee. She received her M.D. from
    the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, her
    Master of Science degree in community medicine from Mount Sinai
    School of Medicine, and the B.A. from the University of
    Chicago.
        Lila Nordstrom is a 9/11 survivor and was a Stuyvesant High
    School student on September 11, 2001. She currently serves as
    executive director of StuyHealth, a position she has held since
    May 2006. In that role, she creates and coordinates efforts to
    educate young adults about health services available to 9/11
    survivors. Today, however, she is testifying in her personal
    capacity. She has also worked as a freelance writer and
    columnist. She received her B.A. with honors from Vassar
    College.
        Anesta St. Rose Henry is the widow of a construction worker
    and 9/11 World Trade Center responder Candidus Henry, who was a
    member of the Laborers International Union of North America
    Local 79. Mr. Henry was working for a contractor at Ground Zero
    from February 2002 to June 2002. He died last month from a 9/11
    related cancer.
        Thomas Mohnal retired as a supervisory special agent after
    a 30-year career with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. On
    September 11, 2001, Mr. Mohnal witnessed American Airlines
    Flight 77 crash and explode into the Pentagon. He immediately
    responded to the crash site and continued working at the
    Pentagon for the next 2 months. As a result of this work, he
    incurred a serious illness. He received his bachelor's degree
    in criminal justice from Lycoming College.
        Michael O'Connell retired as a lieutenant with the fire
    department of city of New York in 2009. From September 11
    through September 18, 2001, he performed rescue and recovery
    work at the World Trade Center site. He was awarded the 9/11
    survivor medal by the FDNY. He joined the FDNY in 1998 and
    later joined the FDNY--I am sorry. He joined the NYPD, the
    police department, in 1998, and later joined the fire
    department in 2001. As with several of our other witnesses, Mr.
    O'Connell incurred a serious illness as a result of his rescue
    and recovery work. He studied nursing at Molloy College and
    Nassau Community College.
        Luis Alvarez is a retired bomb squad detective with the New
    York Police Department. He was a responder at the World Trade
    Center on September 11, 2001. Today, he suffers from 9/11-
    related liver cancer that has metastasized throughout most of
    his body, and he is about to have a 69th round of chemotherapy.
    Prior to joining the NYPD, he served in the United States
    Marine Corps. After retiring from the NYPD, Luis became an
    explosive ordnance disposal technician with the Transportation
    Security Administration at John F. Kennedy International
    Airport.
        Jon Stewart is the former host of ``The Daily Show'' on
    Comedy Central. Of most relevance to today's hearing, he has
    been an outspoken advocate for 9/11 responders and survivors
    and for both the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and
    the World Trade Center Health Program. He has been a tireless
    advocate in raising awareness about the treatment of 9/11
    responders and survivors. To this end, he invited several of
    them onto the Daily Show, made numerous trips to Capitol Hill
    to advocate on their behalf. He is a graduate of the College of
    William and Mary.
        We welcome our distinguished witnesses, and we thank you
    all for participating in today's hearing.
        Now, if you would please rise and raise your right hand, I
    will begin by swearing you in.
        Do you swear or affirm, under penalty of perjury, that the
    testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best
    of your knowledge, information, and belief, so help you God?
        The witnesses may be seated.
        Let the record show the witnesses answered in the
    affirmative.
        Please note that your written statements will be entered
    into the record in their entirety. Accordingly, I ask that you
    summarize your testimony in 5 minutes. To help you stay within
    that time, there is a timing light on your table. When the
    light switches from green to yellow, you have 1 minute to
    conclude your testimony. When the light turns red, it signals
    your 5 minutes have expired.
        Ms. Bhattacharyya, you may begin.

                    TESTIMONY OF RUPA BHATTACHARYYA

        Ms. Bhattacharyya. Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Collins,
    Chairman Cohen, Ranking Member Johnson, and distinguished
    Members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to
    testify about the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, or
    the VCF.
        Hearings like this remind us that September 11, 2001,
    marked only the beginning of an ongoing and evolving tragedy.
    To those of you who share the table with me who were there, who
    responded to the attacks, or would not allow terrorism to
    prevent you from returning to your schools, homes, or
    workplaces, thank you for your heroism and your sacrifice.
        I have spent my career in public service, including more
    than 20 years at the Justice Department. Since the Attorney
    General appointed me as special master in 2016, I have been
    humbled by the responsibility of serving the strong and
    resilient 9/11 community.
        I was privileged recently to attend the dedication of the
    Memorial Glade at the 9/11 museum in New York. I was reminded
    of the startling fact that the nearly 3,000 lives lost on
    September 11 may soon be overtaken by the number of lives lost
    in the years afterwards to illnesses that stem from exposure to
    toxins at all three attack sites.
        While no amount of money can fully compensate for such
    losses, I am proud that the VCF has been able to provide some
    needed relief to those who have suffered for so long.
        The VCF is an extraordinarily successful program. As of May
    31, we have awarded almost $5.2 billion to nearly 22,500
    individuals who suffer physical health conditions, including to
    the families of more than 850 who have died as a result of
    their exposure in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in
    Shanksville. Those compensated include first responders,
    workers or volunteers in construction, cleanup and debris
    removal, and people who lived, worked, or went to school in the
    affected areas. The VCF has received claims from individuals in
    every State of the Nation, including those who came in from
    around the country as part of the response efforts and those
    who have relocated in the years since the attacks.
        In my 3 years at the VCF, we have significantly improved
    efficiency and claim determination rates. The VCF now issues
    nearly as many awards each year as it did in total in its first
    5 years. And the VCF under my leadership has not documented a
    single instance of fraud in a paid claim. We work diligently
    with the Department's Office of the Inspector General to ensure
    that any indicia of fraud are investigated and reconciled.
        Despite its successes, however, the VCF faces a difficult
    situation. We received a record number of new claims in 2018,
    and we are on pace to exceed that number in 2019. The issue is
    basic math. Almost $5.2 billion awarded to nearly 22,500
    individuals, just over $2 billion left with over 21,000 claims
    and amendments still needing a decision and thousands more
    expected to be filed before the VCF's December 18, 2020,
    deadline.
        Several trends help us understand how we got here. Since
    reauthorization of the Zadroga Act in December of 2015, we have
    seen a dramatic increase in claims filed on behalf of those who
    have died as a result of their 9/11-related exposure, a
    significant increase in cancer claims, and a marked increase in
    claims from survivors, meaning those who lived, worked, or went
    to school in the affected areas.
        Taking account of these trends and the increasing rates of
    both claim submissions and award determinations, in February, I
    determined that the VCF had insufficient funding to compensate
    all pending claims and those projected to be filed under then
    existing policies. With that determination, I was required by
    law to modify VCF policies and procedures so that the VCF does
    not exceed its appropriated limit. This meant making
    significant reductions in awards.
        In deciding how to do this, I felt strongly that I could
    not leave some claimants uncompensated or fail to make
    allowance for those who suffered the most. I concluded that the
    fairest solution was to apply a percentage reduction to all
    claims. Thus, depending on when the claim was submitted,
    calculated loss values are being reduced by either 50 or 70
    percent with required offsets taken in full.
        I wish to thank the Judiciary Committee and the Members of
    this Subcommittee for giving me the opportunity to speak to you
    about this successful and important program. Along with my
    dedicated staff and with the full support of the Justice
    Department, I remain strongly committed to serving the 9/11
    community. We remain hopeful that our work continues to provide
    needed relief, and we stand ready, along with the Justice
    Department, to work with you to ensure that Congress has the
    information it needs to address appropriate legislative
    options.
        Thank you.
        [The statement of Ms. Bhattacharyya follows:]

                PREPARED TESTIMONY OF RUPA BHATTACHARYYA

        Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Collins, Chairman Cohen and
    Ranking Member Johnson and distinguished Members of the
    Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify before you
    today on behalf of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
    (the VCF or the Fund). I am very appreciative of the
    Committee's interest in the important work of the VCF and
    grateful for its attention to the needs of the 9/11 community,
    which includes the responders and survivors of that terrible
    day and of the weeks and months of rescue, recovery, and
    remediation efforts that followed. We all know that the world
    changed forever on September 11, 2001, but the work that I am
    privileged to do every day--and hearings like this one--remind
    us all that the events of September 11 marked only the
    beginning of an ongoing and evolving tragedy. I know that some
    of those who were there, who responded to the sites of the
    attacks, or were just living their lives only to be caught up
    in events beyond their control, are in the room, and I join the
    Members of the Committee in commending them for their heroism
    and their sacrifice. I have spent my career in public service,
    including more than 20 years at the Justice Department, but
    since the Attorney General appointed me to serve as Special
    Master for the VCF in 2016, I have been humbled by the
    responsibility of serving this strong and resilient community.
    I was privileged recently to attend the dedication of the
    Memorial Glade at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City
    and I was reminded again of the startling fact that the nearly
    3,000 lives lost on September 11 may soon be overtaken by the
    number of lives lost in the years afterwards to the illnesses
    that stemmed from exposure to toxins at the three sites. While
    no amount of money can fully compensate for the losses that
    were suffered as a result of that day, I am proud that the VCF
    has been able to provide at least some measure of needed relief
    to those who have sacrificed so much and suffered for so long.

                               Background

        By way of brief background, the VCF was originally created
    in 2001, immediately following the attacks, by Public Law No.
    107-42 (Sept. 22, 2001), as amended by Public Law No. 107-71
    (Nov. 19, 2001), as an alternative to tort litigation, and was
    designed to provide compensation for any individual (or a
    personal representative of a deceased individual) who suffered
    physical harm or was killed as a result of the terrorist-
    related aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001, or the clean-up
    and debris removal efforts that took place in the immediate
    aftermath of those crashes. The original VCF (known as ``VCF
    I'') operated from 2001-2004 under the direction of Special
    Master Kenneth Feinberg, and distributed over $7 billion. VCF I
    concluded operations in June 2004, after compensating the
    families of over 2,880 people who died on 9/11 and 2,680
    individuals who were injured.
        In 2011, Congress passed and the President signed the James
    Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (``Zadroga
    Act''), Public Law No. 111-347 (Jan. 2, 2011), which
    reactivated the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (known
    as ``VCF II''), expanded its pool of eligible claimants, and
    appropriated $2.775 billion to pay claims. VCF II opened in
    October 2011 and was originally authorized to accept claims for
    a period of five years, ending in October 2016. Prior to
    reaching the October 2016 claim filing deadline, however, in
    December 2015, Congress passed and the President signed the
    James Zadroga 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Reauthorization
    Act, Public Law No. 114-113 (Dec. 18, 2015). The new Act
    extended the VCF for an additional five years, allowing
    individuals to submit claims until December 18, 2020, and
    appropriated an additional $4.6 billion to pay claims, bringing
    the total appropriated amount for VCF II to $7.375 billion.

                      VCF Progress and Operations

        The VCF, as reconstituted under the Zadroga Act, as
    amended, is an extraordinarily successful program. As of May
    31, 2019, the VCF has awarded over $5.174 billion in
    compensation to nearly 22,500 individuals who have suffered
    physical health conditions (including the families of over 850
    people who have died), as a result of their exposure to the
    terrorist attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in
    Shanksville. Those compensated include first responders; people
    who worked or volunteered in rescue, recovery, clean-up,
    construction, or debris removal at the three sites; as well as
    people who lived, worked, or went to school in the affected
    areas of New York City and were exposed to toxins resulting
    from the attacks, the airline crashes, and the building
    collapses. The VCF has received claims from individuals in
    every State of the nation.
        This includes those who traveled to New York City, the
    Pentagon, and Shanksville from all over the country as part of
    the response efforts, both in official capacities and as
    volunteers, and those who have relocated elsewhere in the
    intervening years since the attacks. In the three years since
    my appointment, moreover, the VCF has made significant strides
    in improving its efficiency and its claim determination rates:
    whereas the VCF issued just over 9,000 awards in the first five
    years of the program, the VCF now issues nearly 8,000
    determinations on new claims and amendments annually.
        The VCF operates with a dedicated team of 173 Justice
    Department employees and contractors, headed by Deputy Special
    Master Jordy Feldman, who serves as the Director of our New
    York Office, and Deputy Special Master Stefanie Langsam, who
    oversees all operations in the D.C. office. The staff includes
    attorneys and support personnel who process, evaluate, and/or
    adjudicate claims; contractors who are responsible for VCF
    operations, including our toll-free Helpline, correspondence,
    and payment processing; and information technology specialists
    who are responsible for designing, developing, testing, and
    maintaining the VCF's claims management system, which allows
    for the filing of online claims. The VCF also has the strong
    support of the Department of Justice, and specifically, of the
    Department's Civil Division, which provides operational and
    administrative support to the VCF, and I wish to thank the
    Attorney General, Civil Division Assistant Attorney General
    Jody Hunt, Civil Division Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tom
    Ward, and the Civil Division's Executive Officer Catherine
    Emerson for their strong and unwavering support of the VCF.
        The scale of the VCF's operations is impressive. Each
    month, the VCF's dedicated Helpline receives more than 3,000
    incoming calls, we mail approximately 10,000 letters to
    claimants and their attorneys, we process an average of 3,000
    pieces of incoming mail, and, on average, we receive nearly 700
    new claims or amendments. It is important to note, when
    discussing VCF operations, that all of the VCF's administrative
    funding comes from the VCF's total appropriation, Public Law
    No. 112-10 (Apr. 15, 2011), and, as such, is part of the same
    pool of funds available for awards to claimants. For that
    reason, as Special Master, I am committed to keeping
    administrative costs down while also minimizing the burden
    placed on claimants and their representatives, and maximizing
    claims processing speed and efficiency. As of December 31,
    2018, the VCF's administrative costs are less than 3% of total
    awards issued.

                           VCF Claims Process

        The VCF reviews claims in two phases: Eligibility and
    compensation.

         LFor eligibility, the VCF reviews the claim to
    determine whether the claimant is eligible to receive
    compensation under the Zadroga Act, including assessing
    whether: The claim was timely registered; the claimant has
    sufficiently proven that he or she was present at one of the
    attack sites or in the New York City Exposure Zone (Manhattan,
    south of Canal Street); the claimant suffers from an eligible
    physical injury or condition as certified or verified by the
    World Trade Center Health Program; and the claimant has
    properly complied with the Act's requirements that any 9/11-
    related lawsuit be properly settled or dismissed in order to
    qualify for compensation from the VCF.
         LFor compensation, all awards are individually
    calculated based on the specific circumstances of the claim.
    The VCF reviews eligible claims to determine the appropriate
    amount of non-economic loss (commonly referred to as ``pain and
    suffering'') based on the nature or severity of the
    individual's physical injury or condition. Non-economic loss
    awards are capped by statute at $90,000 for non-cancer
    conditions and $250,000 for a cancer condition. If a government
    entity or private insurer has formally determined that the
    claimant suffers a full or partial occupational disability as a
    result of an eligible 9/11-related physical injury or
    condition, the VCF generally also will calculate economic loss.
    This portion of the award can encompass a variety of
    components, including loss of income as well as loss of pension
    and other employment benefits; the VCF is required by law to
    cap annual gross income at $200,000 when calculating economic
    loss. The VCF also awards, in limited and appropriate cases,
    reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical expenses, replacement
    services losses, and reimbursement for burial costs in deceased
    claims.

        The VCF is required by law to subtract from the calculated
    award certain ``collateral offsets,'' which are benefits paid
    to the claimant by other entities because of the eligible 9/11-
    related condition. These offsets may include disability
    benefits, settlements from 9/11-related lawsuits, and in the
    case of deceased claims, life insurance paid to the victim's
    beneficiaries.
        The VCF reviews claims in first-in, first-out priority
    order, which is established by the date on which the claim or
    amendment for compensation was submitted. Claim determinations
    are highly individualized and, on average, it takes about 16-18
    months for a claim to go from filing to determination, although
    some claims can be done sooner and some take longer, depending
    on the complexity of the claim and the extent of documentation
    required. The VCF is currently reviewing compensation claims
    and amendments submitted in mid-to-late 2017, and claims
    submitted in the early part of 2018 are expected to come under
    review soon. In addition, the VCF has an established process
    for expediting claims in cases involving terminal illness or
    significant financial hardship and is steadfast in ensuring
    that the criteria used to determine eligibility for this
    process are rigorously applied so that only those claimants
    with the most severe needs are allowed to jump the line. So far
    in 2019, the VCF has expedited 183 claims, which can move from
    filing to payment in as little as three weeks, and I wish to
    express our gratitude to the Department's Justice Management
    Division and the United States Department of the Treasury,
    which work closely with us to make sure that expedited payments
    are made as soon as possible. The circumstances that warrant
    expedition are truly saddening, and yet we are gratified to be
    able to issue these payments quickly and provide some sense of
    solace and financial security to claimants facing their darkest
    days.
        In making eligibility and compensation determinations, the
    VCF works closely with our sister program under the Zadroga
    Act, the World Trade Center Health Program, operated by the
    Department of Health and Human Services' National Institute for
    Occupational Safety and Health, under the stellar leadership of
    Dr. John Howard, which provides medical monitoring and
    treatment for those affected by 9/11. The VCF also has
    established beneficial relationships and direct data exchanges
    with multiple federal and State entities, each of which
    provides information used by the VCF in assessing claims. These
    include the Social Security Administration, the Department of
    Veterans Affairs, the Department of Labor, the Office of
    Personnel Management, and the Department's own Office of
    Justice Programs' Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program, as
    well as the New York State Workers' Compensation Board, the
    Fire Department of New York, the New York Police Department,
    the New York City Employees' Retirement System, and various
    other New York city and State pension boards and unions.
        By statute, claimants are limited to filing only one claim
    with the VCF, but VCF policy allows claims to be amended at any
    time before the program closes in 2020 if the claimant suffers
    a new injury or incurs a new and previously uncompensated loss.
    Claimants are also allowed to appeal in the case of an
    eligibility denial, or if the individual believes the award
    calculation did not properly account for the individual
    circumstances in the claim. Hearings are non-adversarial and
    provide an opportunity for claimants to tell us their story,
    and we have a dedicated staff of pro bono hearing officers (who
    operate under a special appointment from the Attorney General)
    who generously lend their expertise and gravitas to the VCF's
    administrative appeals process; in 2018, the VCF held 380
    appeal hearings; so far in 2019, we have held 299. The law
    provides that the ultimate decisions of the Special Master on
    eligibility and compensation are final and unreviewable by any
    judicial authority, which is an extraordinary grant of
    discretion that I take extremely seriously.
        The VCF also takes very seriously its role in ensuring that
    public funding is allocated only to those individuals who are
    suffering as a result of 9/11, and has a robust system of
    standards and procedures in place to prevent fraud. All claim
    form responses and information submitted to support a claim are
    subject to 18 U.S.C. 1001, the statute that criminalizes false
    statements made to the Federal Government. Moreover, key
    information used to establish eligibility and to calculate loss
    is independently verified with various third parties. Multiple
    internal checks take place throughout the claim review process
    to ensure that factual inconsistencies, data discrepancies, and
    other potential indicators of fraud are identified and
    resolved. In addition, the
        Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI or Bureau) provides a
    background check for every individual who is receiving a VCF
    payment, and the VCF receives dedicated assistance when needed
    through a strong partnership with the Department's Office of
    the Inspector General. The VCF also undergoes regular
    independent government audits and an annual financial audit. We
    are very proud of the fact that the VCF under the Zadroga Act
    has not documented any instance of fraud in a paid claim.

                       Current Status of the VCF

        Under the Zadroga Act, as amended, the VCF is required to
    close to new claims and amendments on December 18, 2020. At the
    beginning of 2019, VCF projections showed that the $7.375
    billion in total funding was expected to be insufficient to pay
    all claims already pending and claims expected to be filed. The
    law passed by Congress when it reauthorized the VCF in 2015
    recognized the possibility that funding might be insufficient
    and required the Special Master to annually reassess the VCF's
    policies and procedures to ensure that (1) funding is
    prioritized for those individuals who suffer from the most
    debilitating physical conditions; and (2) funds are not
    obligated in excess of the $7.375 billion appropriation. Under
    the law, if, as a result of this annual reassessment, I
    determine that those requirements cannot be met, I am required
    to take actions or make modifications to VCF policies and
    procedures as necessary to achieve these statutory
    requirements. Thus, once I made the determination that funding
    was insufficient in February 2019, I did as the law required
    and modified VCF policies and procedures to reduce VCF award
    values for all pending and potential claimants to ensure that
    the VCF would stay within the appropriated limits while still
    continuing to prioritize the claims from the claimants with the
    most debilitating conditions. I would like to use the remainder
    of my time to explain how we got here and why I made the
    decision that I did.
        The VCF was authorized with a limited amount of funding
    but, while the population of potential claimants is a finite
    set, its exact numbers are unknown. There is no accurate count
    of how many people might have been exposed to toxins stemming
    from the attacks, and there is considerable uncertainty about
    the number of individuals who ultimately will fall ill due to
    the long latency periods that can elapse before manifestation
    of the cancers determined to be related to 9/11 exposure. The
    VCF also has suffered from an information gap; in the early
    years of the program, many eligible individuals were not aware
    that the VCF was an available resource, assuming it was meant
    only for New York City first responders. In fact, even the FBI,
    which has lost at least 16 employees to 9/11-related illnesses,
    did not recognize until fairly recently that its employees
    might be eligible for VCF compensation. The efforts of Director
    Christopher Wray and his staff have been instrumental in
    ensuring that the Bureau and other federal law enforcement
    agencies are made aware of the programs that are available to
    help them.
        As a result of increasing outreach, not only within the
    Federal Government but by victims' advocacy groups, many of
    which are represented here today, by the World Trade Center
    Health Program, and by the lawyers who represent over 80
    percent of VCF claimants, but also as a harbinger of the
    increasing seriousness of 9/11-related illnesses, the VCF
    received a record number of new claims in 2018 and is on pace
    to exceed that number in 2019. For perspective, in the first
    five years of the Fund, through December 31, 2016, roughly
    19,000 compensation forms were filed. In the two years after
    that, through December 2018, almost 20,000 additional
    compensation forms were filed, with an additional 7,700
    compensation forms filed so far in 2019 (see Chart A). We have
    awarded $5.174 billion to nearly 22,500 individuals, some more
    than once due to an amendment or an appeal. Keeping in mind
    that we must maintain a funding reserve for administrative
    costs, we have just over $2 billion left, with over 21,000
    claims and amendments still needing a decision. While some
    number of those pending claims will be denied, and some number
    of amendments will not warrant any change to the original
    award, it is still clear that the VCF projects a shortfall.
        Consistent with the reassessment mandate in the statute,
    each of the VCF's Annual Reports published since
    reauthorization in December 2015 has addressed the possibility
    of a funding shortfall. In the first reassessment conducted
    following Reauthorization, published March 13, 2017, as part of
    the VCF's Fifth Annual Report, the VCF projected that funding
    would be sufficient based on the data available at the time. We
    recognized, however, that there was considerable uncertainty in
    those projections and that the reauthorization of the VCF, with
    its new claim filing deadline and additional funding, provided
    opportunities for more people to benefit from the funding
    allocated to this important program. In the second
    reassessment, published with our Sixth Annual Report in
    February 2018, we projected that the VCF would remain just
    barely within its funding limit, projecting a total expenditure
    of $7.295 billion out of the appropriated $7.375 billion.
    Noting the relatively thin margin that existed, we indicated at
    that time that we would continue to monitor our projections
    over the course of the year to determine if changes would be
    needed prior to the following year's annual reassessment. In
    October 2018, following the anniversary of the September 11th
    attacks, and after internal projections done with August 2018
    data suggested that the VCF, at the existing compensation
    levels, would exceed the available appropriated amount, the VCF
    published a Notice of Inquiry in the Federal Register, alerting
    the public of the possibility of a funding shortfall and
    seeking public comment on how to distribute the remaining funds
    in the most fair and equitable manner.
        As we evaluated the comments received in response to the
    Notice and prepared the reassessment at the end of 2018, we
    were able to pinpoint several new trends, which reflect
    significant changes to the composition of the VCF's claimant
    population since Congress last examined this law in 2015, in
    terms of the types of claims filed, the types of conditions
    claimed, and the types of claimants filing claims. Since the
    Reauthorization of the VCF in December 2015, we have seen:

         LA dramatic increase in deceased claim filings,
    meaning claims filed on behalf of those who have died as a
    result of their 9/11-related physical health condition. At the
    end of 2015, the VCF had received 610 deceased claims. As of
    May 31, 2019, we have received 2,252 (see Chart B), with more
    than a quarter of that total (676) filed year-to-date in 2019.
         LA marked increase in cancer claims. In 2015, the
    Congressional Budget Office estimated that, should the VCF
    remain in operation through 2025, we would issue awards on a
    total of between 2,500 and 10,000 cancer claims. We have
    already found over 8,800 cancer claimants eligible, and already
    awarded compensation to 7,750 of these individuals (see Chart
    C). And we are a full six years away from 2025.
         LA marked increase in claims from the survivor
    population, meaning those who lived, worked, or went to school
    in the area. At the time of Reauthorization in December 2015,
    not quite 14% of all VCF awards were paid to survivors. Today,
    just about 38% of claims filed are from this population (see
    Chart D).

        When you take these trends, factor in that deceased claims
    and cancer claims tend to be higher value awards, and also
    consider the fact that we have made significant improvements to
    our processes which have significantly increased the rate at
    which awards are issued, the plain fact is that we are
    expending the available funds more quickly than assumed, and
    there are many more claims than anticipated.
        Using data as of January 31, 2019, and in consideration of
    these trends, I determined in the third reassessment required
    by the law, published with our Seventh Annual Report in
    February 2019, that the VCF had insufficient funding to
    continue to compensate all pending claims and claims projected
    to be filed by December 18, 2020, under the VCF's then-existing
    policies and procedures. As described in that report, available
    at www.vcf.gov, the VCF projected, using a trend-based
    analysis, that, after considering all awards made through
    January 31, 2019, we would expect to make a total of 28,185
    additional original and revised awards, which would mean that,
    based on average award values, the VCF's total expenditures at
    program end (including necessary administrative costs) would
    require a total cumulative outlay of $11.991 billion, $4.616
    billion more than the $7.375 currently appropriated. Given my
    determination of insufficient funding, the law required me to
    modify VCF policies and procedures so as to ensure that the VCF
    does not obligate funds beyond its appropriation. This meant
    that the VCF needed to make significant reductions in awards.
        In choosing how to go about this task, I attempted not only
    to adhere to the VCF's two statutory directives--not exceeding
    the available appropriation, and prioritizing funding for
    claimants with the most debilitating conditions--but also to
    meet three central policy goals: (1) Ensuring that all eligible
    claimants filing before the statutory deadline, December 18,
    2020, would receive some compensation for their suffering
    (subject to applicable statutory offsets); (2) holding a
    reasonable amount of money in contingent reserve to ensure
    against further unanticipated increases in claim filings, and
    to be able to make increased awards in appropriate cases where
    claimants are suffering from extraordinarily severe conditions;
    and (3) minimizing operational and administrative
    implementation challenges to avoid a delay or outright halt in
    claim determinations.
        After thoroughly evaluating every potential available
    option, I agreed with the clear majority of the commenters who
    responded to the VCF's published Notice of Inquiry and
    concluded that the fairest way to implement the required
    reduction of awards was to do so across the board, applying a
    percentage reduction to all awards. Other approaches would have
    had the effect of disproportionately affecting the claimants
    with the most debilitating conditions, which I believed to be
    inconsistent with the VCF's statutory mandate. Reducing the
    highest value awards, for example, or making changes to the way
    in which economic losses are calculated, would most affect
    those claimants whose 9/11-related physical health conditions
    are so severe that they are no longer able to work. Continuing
    to make VCF awards without any changes until the funding ran
    out would have meant that claimants with the most severe
    conditions whose claims had not yet been filed would be left
    entirely uncompensated. I could not abide a plan that would
    leave some claimants uncompensated or that would fail to make
    any allowance for the claimants who suffer the most.
        Accordingly, all pending claims, regardless of when they
    were filed, are subject to the new policies put in place
    effective February 25, 2019, to address the insufficiency of
    funds, although we were able to make some accommodation for
    claimants whose claims were already pending as of February 1,
    2019, as follows:
        Effective for any award on which the VCF makes a
    determination on or after February 25, 2019:

         LIf the claim or amendment was submitted for
    compensation review on or before February 1, 2019, the
    calculated award will be reduced by 50 percent.
         LIf the claim or amendment was submitted for
    compensation review on or after February 2, 2019, the
    calculated award will be reduced by 70 percent.

        By law, we cannot reduce the offsets applied to the award
    and so the offsets are subtracted in full from the calculated
    reduced award.
        The reductions in awards have now been fully implemented.
    In the period between February 25, 2019, when the reductions
    became effective, and May 31, 2019, we have issued 835 awards
    that have been subject to reduction.

                               Conclusion

        Taking action to reduce VCF awards to comply with the law
    was a challenge that I worked to ensure was solved in an
    equitable and transparent way, as I spend each and every day
    immersed in the stories of the individuals who make up the 9/11
    community. Along with my talented and dedicated staff, I remain
    deeply committed to serving the needs of the 9/11 community,
    which we know to be strong and resilient. We are hopeful that
    the work that we do continues to provide some measure of needed
    relief. And, most importantly, we are grateful to this
    Committee and to Congress for re-examining the Zadroga Act and
    considering how best the Nation as a whole might be able to
    continue to help the Members of the 9/11 community.
        Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, thank you for the opportunity
    to speak here today about this successful and extraordinarily
    important program. To the extent that the Committee requires
    further information regarding the evaluation of claims, the
    unanticipated nature of the illnesses compensated by the VCF,
    and the projected numbers of those who may be eligible for
    compensation in the future, I, my staff, and the Department are
    fully committed to working with you to ensure that Congress has
    the information that it needs to address appropriate
    legislative options. Thank you.

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you.
        Dr. Moline.

                  TESTIMONY OF JACQUELINE MOLINE, M.D.

        Dr. Moline. Good morning Nadler, Chairman Cohen, Ranking
    Member Johnson, and Members of the committee. I am honored to
    be here this morning.
        My name is Dr. Jacqueline Moline. I am the chairperson of
    the Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and
    Prevention at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra
    University Northwell. And I am the director of the Northwell
    Queens World Trade Center Health Program. My specialty,
    occupational and environmental medicine, deals with the impact
    of hazardous substances on the health of individuals.
        On September 11, I, like every person in New York, watched
    in shock and horror as our Nation was attacked. My colleagues
    at Mount Sinai where I was then working knew of the potential
    for health effects related to asbestos and other toxicants. We
    knew there would be disease in the short term and the long
    term. Our immediate concern was for those acute health effects,
    the first wave.
        My colleagues and I have written extensive about this--
    extensively about this, and copies of some publications are
    attached to my testimony.
        At Mount Sinai, we began seeing patients that month.
    Through the tremendous efforts of the New York congressional
    delegation and organized labor, in April 2002, we were given 1
    year of funding to begin medical surveillance programs for
    rescue and recovery workers, construction workers, and
    volunteers exposed at the pile.
        At the beginning, we could only evaluate patients and tell
    them their health conditions. We are not allowed to provide
    treatment. This program was extended 1 year, and we continued
    to partnership with SUNY Stony Brook, Queens College, New York
    University, and Rutgers to see patients in locations convenient
    for them. These surveillance programs continued, eventually
    including treatment and evolved into the World Trade Center
    Health Program authorized eventually by the James Zadroga Act
    of 2010.
        After reauthorization in 2016, we had 75 years of funding
    for medical surveillance and care of World Trade Center related
    disorders as well as dedicated research. As of March 31, 2019,
    95,320 first responders and survivors, the resident
    schoolchildren, and individuals who worked in Lower Manhattan
    who returned to their businesses had been evaluated.
        Yes, the towers were in New York City, and the Pentagon is
    here in DC, but it was an attack on our Nation. Individuals
    from all over the country participated in this rescue and
    recovery effort. Over the past 18 years, some people who lived
    in the Metro New York area have moved to retire to other parts
    of the country. Due to these reasons, there is a national
    component to the World Trade Center program. As of May 2019,
    16,684 individuals are enrolled in the national program in
    every State.
        Downtown Manhattan, home to thousands of residents, was
    blanketed in thick dust. School children, like Lila sitting
    here, had been evacuated from their places of learning on
    September 11. They returned to their schools, despite fires
    that continued to rage and amid dust that persisted through May
    2002. The survivors are also covered by the Zadroga Act, and
    the number of survivors has increased by 327 percent in 8
    years.
        Medical conditions have persisted. That is the second wave.
    For example, over 50 percent of firefighters who worked the
    World Trade Center site had developed a persistent respiratory
    condition. Rates of asthma remain elevated along with a variety
    of other diseases.
        Here we are nearly 20 years later. Unfortunately, we have
    moved into the third wave of diseases, those conditions that
    take years to develop. We don't a lot about the actual dust and
    fumes that enveloped Lower Manhattan. I would like to reiterate
    that, as medical professions, we never believed the air was
    safe to breathe. That is now amply clear.
        The World Trade Center now collects additional data on
    diseases that have been classified as World Trade Center
    related. This is crucial since early data collection on who was
    exposed was lacking. Further research is ongoing to determine
    what new diseases might be added to the approved list.
        Since 2012, when over 50 cancers were added to the list of
    World Trade Center conditions, there have been 11,824 World
    Trade Center certified cancers treated, including 2,614
    prostate, 552 lung, 741 breast, including over 35 male breast
    cancers, 667 thyroid, 571 cases of lymphoma and hundreds more.
    Glioblastoma have occurred like the one that killed Candidus
    Henry, a patient at the Northwell program. You will hear from
    his widow in this session.
        The survivor program has had 3,030 individuals with cancer.
    And in the national program, the number of cancer cases
    certified increased from 7 in 2013 to 708 in 2018. Nearly
    20,000 children attended school below Houston Street and were
    exposed to over 150 toxicants in that deadly brew.
        Overall, over 55,000 people have been certified for at
    least one World Trade Center related health condition in the
    responder and survivor programs and in the national programs.
    The effects from exposure of 9/11 have not only been measured
    in the number of deaths, cancers, lung transplants, and
    countless new cases of asthma, studies have shown the impact on
    employment disability and early retirement.
        I would like to briefly tell you about the impact by
    telling you about a real person. Elli Engler, who is here today
    and has allowed me to give a brief description of her health
    issues, was a certified industrial hygienist in charge of
    health and safety for the United Federation of Teachers. She
    went into every school in Lower Manhattan, assessed the
    immediate health risk for staff and children. In 2008, she
    developed a second breast cancer, a condition she had fought
    and beat in 1985. She developed asthma shortly after 9/11, but
    it was under control. Recently, she has had severe asthma
    attacks that have required hospital visits. Elli, like so many
    in the World Trade Center community, fought these illnesses
    with courage.
        After 2011, she also realized that all 500 staff at these
    schools in Lower Manhattan were eligible for the health program
    if they had World Trade Center conditions, and she began staff
    outreach. She also advocates on behalf of the school children
    in Lower Manhattan who have now all graduated and moved
    throughout this country. Her clinical future, like so many
    others, is uncertain, and she will require close monitoring and
    care for the rest of her life. She is truly a hero.
        On September 11, 2,973 people lost their lives, including
    firefighters, police officers, EMS workers, and people just
    going to work. Since then, an additional 204 police officers,
    180 FDNY firefighters, and, in total, an estimated 2,000
    responders and survivors have died as a result of 9/11
    illnesses. With every day, these numbers increase. Soon the day
    will come when there are more people who died of World Trade
    Center related illnesses after 9/11 than perished on that
    horrible day.
        Based on the trends we have seen in research; this third
    wave of 9/11 diseases will continue. Because of the monitoring
    program, we are able to identify new clusters of disease that
    will develop, such as neurological conditions, autoimmune
    disorders, and diseases we can't foresee.
        I consider myself fortunate to have been in New York City
    on 9/11 so I could contribute to caring for the thousands of
    men and women who suffered from occupational and environmental
    exposures from the World Trade Center dust and fumes. Being
    able to serve my patients and our Nation as a physician
    involved in the World Trade Center Health Programs is one of
    the greatest honors of my life.
        Thank you.
        [The statement of Dr. Moline follows:]

                     FOR THE RECORD JACQUELINE MOLINE, M.D.

    =======================================================================

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you, Dr. Moline.
        Ms. Nordstrom.

                      TESTIMONY OF LILA NORDSTROM

        Ms. Nordstrom. Thank you to Chairman Nadler, Chairman
    Cohen, and Ranking Member Johnson, and the Members of the
    Committee for holding a hearing on this incredibly important
    issue.
        My name is Lila Nordstrom. And on September 11, I was a 17-
    year-old student at Stuyvesant High School, which is a public
    school that is three blocks from the World Trade Center. On the
    morning of 9/11, I was in class with windows facing south, and
    my classmates and I watched as planes hit the Twin Towers. We
    watched dozens of people jumping to their deaths. We watched
    thousands of evacuees stream out of the area. Then the first
    tower fell, and a dust cloud rushed our building. We couldn't
    see anything.
        I was one of the first people out of Stuyvesant when we
    finally got evacuation orders. The moment I stepped outside,
    the second tower collapsed, and everybody took off in a run.
        I walked 10 miles that day. I couldn't reach my parents. I
    didn't end up even going home. I ended up walking all the way
    to Queens.
        After the attacks, we were sent to a school in Brooklyn
    temporarily. The Stuyvesant building was used as a morgue and a
    command center for the cleanup effort at Ground Zero because of
    its proximity.
        Unfortunately, after EPA Administrator Christine Todd
    Whitman told the residents of downtown and New Yorkers that the
    air was safe to breathe, government officials made the decision
    to return us to our school building. We went back on October 9,
    which is less than a month after the attacks.
        Ground Zero was still on fire and would be for another 4
    months. The smell of smoke was suffocating every day. Despite
    assurances from officials, very little got done to clean the
    school for students. No hazmat team got called in. The filters
    in our ventilation system were not replaced until January. The
    air vents, which were filled with World Trade Center dust, were
    not cleaned until the following summer. The auditorium's
    contaminated upholstery was not actually replaced fully until
    2014, which you can see on the image above.
        The school was also continually recontaminated by trucks
    that were carting toxic debris from the World Trade Center site
    past our school and dumping it into barges that were parked
    next to the air intake system. Testing of the air outside of
    our school showed that on many days it was actually as bad as
    the air at Ground Zero itself. You can see where the barge was
    located. That picture is taken from the doors of our school.
        In total, more than 19,000 public school students returned
    to school downtown during the cleanup as did thousands of
    teachers and school staff. 10s of thousands of students and
    professors from Borough's Manhattan Community College and Pace
    University and NYU, downtown residents and office workers were
    actively encouraged to return, even those that had small
    children at home. And many of them got left to clean up
    dangerously contaminated spaces without much guidance.
        Federal dollars even got spent by the Lower Manhattan
    Development Corporation to encourage new residents to move into
    the area because, unsurprisingly, they began to face really
    high vacancy rates.
        Through all of this, the EPA knew that the air was not safe
    down there, but they did not tell us.
        NIOSH has now linked more than 68 cancers to the World
    Trade Center toxins. I haven't even had my 20th high school
    reunion yet, but I already have five former classmates with
    lymphomas that I just know personally. My friend Michele is in
    remission from thyroid cancer. Other classmates of mine have
    been diagnosed with rare bone cancers, testicular cancers,
    melanomas. There is even a male breast cancer survivor among
    us, as Dr. Moline was talking about earlier.
        Classmates are also starting to die now. Just a couple of
    months ago, Cathy Choy, who graduated just a year after me,
    passed away at aged 33 of a 9/11-linked gastric cancer. Her VCF
    award has not been paid yet. When it is paid to her husband, it
    will be cut by 50 or 70 percent.
        That is just my school. BMCC students are sick, as are
    students from Pace, and as are many younger children from the
    area.
        Beyond cancer, plenty of us are already suffering from
    chronic 9/11-related conditions, myself included. I am
    personally certified with asthma, with GERD, with chronic
    rhinosinusitis, and with PTSD.
        So, these serious illnesses that are emerging now are just
    the tip of the iceberg. If the VCF is allowed to close, a lot
    of my classmates will not find out they are sick in time to
    make a claim at all.
        Women have special reason to be concerned, because most of
    the research that has been done on 9/11 health impacts has been
    done on the responder population, which is largely male. That
    means that a lot of women's health issues will not actually be
    linked to the attacks in time to ever be compensable through
    the VCF.
        The youngest 9/11 survivors now, we live all over the
    Nation, and we have, you know, 70 or 80 years to live with
    these exposures, in the case of the youngest exposed. Cancer
    does not respect arbitrary funding deadlines. If the VCF is
    allowed to reduce payouts and expire, this resource that was
    meant to ease our suffering is going to become just another
    symbol of how we were sacrificed by a government that thought a
    quick return to normalcy after a tragic event was more
    important than the health and safety of the children who lived
    through it.
        In 2011 and 2015, the government did the right thing and
    enacted and then reauthorized the Zadroga Act, and Congress
    should do the right thing one more time and fully fund and
    extend the VCF. My friends who get sick in 2027 deserve the
    same help they would have received if they had gotten sick in
    2017, and so do I.
        Thank you.
        [The statement of Ms. Nordstrom follows:]

                  PREPARED TESTIMONY OF LILA NORDSTROM

        Thank you to Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Collins, and
    the rest of the Committee for holding a hearing on this
    incredibly important issue.
        My name is Lila Nordstrom. On September 11th, 2001 I was 17
    years-old and a student at Stuyvesant High School, a New York
    City public school with 3,000 students just three blocks from
    the World Trade Center.
        The morning of 9/11 I was in a class on the tenth floor
    with windows facing the Twin Towers. My classmates and I saw
    two planes hit the World Trade Center and watched in horror as
    dozens of people jumped to their deaths and thousands of people
    evacuated. We were still in class when the first building
    collapsed. As a dust cloud rushed towards our windows, we were
    ordered to go to our homerooms, then, eventually, to evacuate
    the building.
        I was one of the first people to evacuate Stuyvesant. The
    instant that I stepped outside, the second WTC tower collapsed
    and everybody began to run. I eventually ran out of breath and
    a gym teacher named Ms. Luczak, herself only two years out of
    college, found me and began to walk with me. People had parked
    along the Hudson River to play radio news for evacuees, so as
    we walked we heard reports that many unidentified planes were
    still in the air and that the entire island of Manhattan could
    be evacuated. We were far from any bridges and thought we might
    end up having to swim. I told her that I didn't know how, so
    she told me she could swim me across the Hudson River if we got
    trapped. We slowly found other students as we walked and
    eventually one of my friends joined the group. I was too afraid
    to go home, having heard on the radio that a plane was headed
    for the Empire State Building, only a few blocks from where I
    lived, so I walked across the 59th Street Bridge with her
    instead. We eventually made it on foot to Astoria, Queens, ten
    miles in total, and I spent the night at her house.
        When classes resumed, Stuyvesant students were told to
    report to a high school in Brooklyn. At the time our school
    building was being used as a command center and morgue for the
    WTC cleanup effort because of it's proximity to Ground Zero.
    Less than a week after the attacks, however, Christine Todd
    Whitman, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency,
    assured New Yorkers that the air downtown was ``safe to
    breath.'' Based on this reassurance, government officials made
    the decision to send Stuyvesant students back to lower
    Manhattan on October 9th, less than a month after the attacks.
        On the day that Stuyvesant students returned to lower
    Manhattan, Ground Zero was still burning and would continue to
    burn for another three months. It was the early days of the
    cleanup so the neighborhood wasn't yet open to the public, and
    every morning, students had to pass through multiple police
    checkpoints just to get into the school. Once there, we were
    given cryptic warnings not to drink out of the water fountains
    or leave during the day for any reason.
        The acrid smell of a smoke permeated the building every day
    by noon, and the school was constantly re-contaminated by a
    continuous line of trucks carrying hazardous debris from the
    WTC site to the barge docked next to the building. From the
    third floor students could watch as clouds of dust spiraled
    into the air while truck after truck dumped loads of toxic
    pulverized debris right next to our air intake system. The
    happened all day, every day. The trucks were uncovered and as
    they drove by they also left a trail of dust behind them that
    settled on every surface outside. Testing of the air around the
    school showed that on many days there were the same levels of
    toxic dust in the air around Stuyvesant as there were at Ground
    Zero itself. Government agencies were repeatedly asked to at
    least hose down the truckloads of debris, but by the time they
    started doing so winter had set in and they had to stop because
    the debris was freezing.
        It was only after our return that we learned how haphazard
    and incomplete the cleaning of our building had been as it
    transitioned from morgue back to school. No HazMat team was
    called in to clean Stuyvesant. The highly publicized one
    million dollars reportedly spent to clean the building was not
    used to replace the contaminated filters in our ventilation
    system, which remained until the end of January, after months
    of stalling by the Board of Education. The money was also not
    used to clean the building's air vents, which were still packed
    with WTC dust when I graduated that spring. The money was
    certainly not used to replace the contaminated carpeting and
    fabric in our auditorium, either. That room, where we held our
    first meeting upon returning and the school's most popular
    event that spring, was not fully reupholstered until 2014, more
    than ten years later.
        Suffice it to say my lungs suffered, and I certainly was
    not alone. As soon as Stuyvesant students returned there were
    widespread reports of nosebleeds, coughs that just wouldn't go
    away, chronic headaches, and students suffering from a slew of
    worsening respiratory issues.
        That was layered on top of the trauma of the attacks
    themselves, and the continuing trauma of living with the
    cleanup. One day we arrived to find the mangled remainder the
    sphere statue that sat between the Twin Towers parked in front
    of our school, a horrifying reminder for us to ponder as we
    started the day. We also had fire drills in our first days back
    that showed us our new emergency route, which was, for some
    reason, to run towards Ground Zero. The area was still closed
    off to the public and was populated by with National Guardsmen
    in heavy duty dust masks. It turned out that our usual
    evacuation route was being blocked by the debris barge. We were
    sandwiched between the fire and the dust.
        Unfortunately, Stuyvesant was not the only school in Lower
    Manhattan to send children downtown before it was safe. There
    were some 19,000 public school students in the contamination
    zone between the fall of 2001 and spring of 2002, including
    thousands of elementary-aged kids. There were, in fact, two
    public elementary schools just across the street from
    Stuyvesant, both within two blocks of the barge operation.
    There were also students attending private schools in the area,
    as well as thousands of children living downtown who either
    weren't old enough for school or went to school outside the
    zone.
        Thousands of teachers and school staff were also exposed
    when these schools reopened, as were tens of thousands of
    college students and professors at Borough of Manhattan
    Community College and PACE University, and hundreds of NYU
    students living in downtown housing.
        Beyond the schools, lower Manhattan is also one of the
    busiest and most densely populated neighborhoods in the U.S.,
    and roughly 25,000 residents and 325,000 office workers also
    returned to the area before it was safe. Many were left to
    clean up contaminated homes and offices themselves, given only
    dangerously inadequate guidance, which they followed unaware of
    the great risk to their health. Many of these spaces were
    continually re-contaminated by the cleanup process anyway. At
    the same time, government dollars were spent to entice
    unsuspecting new residents, including young families, to the
    area. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, facing
    vacancy rates as high as 50% in some areas, used this public
    money to fund major rent subsidies for new residents.
    Meanwhile, survivors spent long months in the center of a toxic
    stew as government officials told them any symptoms they
    experienced were in their heads or would disappear as soon as
    the fires went out.
        What the EPA knew, but we didn't, was that the air was not
    safe. Now, in addition to the illnesses and deaths we're seeing
    among responders, the death toll from 9/11-related illnesses is
    also mounting among survivors and new people continue to fall
    ill, many of them my age or younger.
        Like many survivors I now suffer from 9/11-related health
    conditions. Many of these conditions are chronic. My entire 20s
    was dominated by financial panic because even asthma and GERD
    can be quite expensive to treat under our current health care
    system. Adding to that stress is the fact that doctors in
    California, where I live, have often never seen a 9/11 survivor
    and don't understand the unique health risks I face. The World
    Trade Center Health Program has meaningfully changed my life.
    More specifically the Nationwide Provider Network has been a
    huge advantage for the thousands of lower Manhattan students
    who went away to college or started their adult lives
    elsewhere. I used to stockpile asthma medicine and ``wait it
    out'' when I should have gone to the doctor. Thanks to the WTC
    Health Program, I don't have to do those things anymore.
        Unfortunately my future, and that of my classmates, is
    looking a little more scary than chronic-but-hopefully-
    manageable health conditions. Back in January 2006, when James
    Zadroga became the first responder to have his death directly
    linked to his exposures on 9/11, an autopsy revealed ground
    glass, asbestos, chromium, lead and benzene in his lung tissue.
    Responders were not the only people exposed to these known
    carcinogens. So were we.
        NIOSH has now linked more than 68 cancers to the WTC
    toxins. Not surprisingly, many former students from the schools
    south of Canal Street, as well as Members of the community and
    people who worked in the area, are now being diagnosed with the
    same cancers as the first responders.
        I already can say that I went to school with more cancer
    survivors than anybody I know, and I haven't even had my 20th
    high school reunion yet. Just in my limited personal network
    from Stuyvesant I know at least five people who have been
    diagnosed with lymphomas, my friend Michele is in remission
    from thyroid cancer, and another classmate from my year is in
    remission from testicular cancer. Other Stuyvesant alumni from
    those years have been diagnosed with rare bone cancers,
    melanoma, and there's even a male breast cancer survivor among
    us.
        Now our classmates, people still in their 20s and early
    30s, are starting to die. Just a couple of months ago a
    classmate of mine, Cathy Choy, passed away at age 33 from 9/11-
    linked gastric cancer. Her Victim Compensation Fund award has
    not yet been paid. When her husband finally receives it, it
    will be reduced by either 50% or 70%.
        Stuyvesant students are not the only ones getting sick.
    Rozaliya Yarusska was a 22-year-old Pace University student on
    9/11 and has been diagnosed with nasal cancer and eye cancer.
    Magdali Vergara-Martinez was a 17-year-old BMCC student. She's
    been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Her VCF award will be cut
    50%. The growing number of cancer cases has had an affect on
    all of us, even those that aren't sick. With each new cancer
    report I also hear from classmates consumed by fears about
    what's around the bend and wondering what we can do to protect
    ourselves.
        The fact that people our age are only starting to get sick
    and die now is not surprising. We were younger when exposed, so
    the latency periods for our illnesses have been longer. For us,
    and for our families, our concern is compounded by the fact
    that the Victim Compensation Fund is closing. While those who
    are sick now will receive drastically reduced awards, many of
    my friends won't find out they're sick in time to make any
    claim at all.
        Women have even more reason to be concerned. Much of the
    early research on 9/11's health impacts was done on the
    disproportionately male responder population. Many women's
    health conditions won't make it onto the list of covered
    conditions in time to be compensable through the VCF. Breast
    cancer has just now surpassed prostate cancer as the most
    commonly diagnosed cancer among survivors, but there still
    isn't much data on women's reproductive health or conditions
    such as autoimmune disorders that disproportionately affect
    women. We've seen the surge in breast cancers in the news, of
    course, but only because an unusual number of these cases are
    in men. One of these men, as I mentioned before, is a classmate
    of mine.
        Young adults are also especially at risk of losing out on
    the VCF because we face some big obstacles to even finding out
    about the 9/11 health services. Like me, many of us no longer
    live in New York City and don't have access to local
    information about the VCF, don't see it reported on in local
    media, and don't have local advocates. This often seems to get
    lost in the conversation about who needs this program and why.
    Stuyvesant alumni alone live in locales from rural Tenessee, to
    coastal Oregon, to Texas and beyond. Thousands of other New
    York City kids have begun their adult lives in other parts of
    the country as well.
        Unfortunately, cancer does not respect arbitrary funding
    deadlines. Right now there are thousands of 17 and 18 year-
    olds, just beginning their adult lives, who will have to live
    with the results of their WTC exposures for another 70 or 80
    years. The older exposed kids, people my age, are learning of
    our increasingly terrifying health prospects just as many of us
    are starting families or are planning to in the next few years.
    When we get sick, when we have to take leave from work to
    recover or god forbid pass away from a serious illness with a
    young child at home, who is going to help our families fill in
    the financial gap? A responder or a survivor who gets sick in
    2027 deserves the same help that they would've have received if
    they got sick in 2017.
        Those of us exposed to the toxic dust at Ground Zero as
    kids had our health put at risk before we were old enough to
    understand the risks or give informed consent. Upon our return
    to Stuyvesant we were even paraded in front of news cameras to
    show how ``safe'' it was downtown. Essentially, were
    conscripted into a massive PR effort that encouraged the rest
    of the community to return to a dangerous place even as the
    Federal Government knew the air might make all of us sick. If
    the VCF is allowed to reduce payouts and expire, a resource
    meant to ease our suffering will become yet another symbol of
    how we were sacrificed by a government that thought a quick
    return to normalcy after a tragic event was more important than
    the health and safety of the children who lived through it, the
    responders who cleaned up the mess, and the thousands of area
    workers and residents who were lied to and compelled to put
    their health on the line without their knowledge or consent.
        As health concerns begin to overwhelm us, we hope the
    Federal Government will have our backs. In 2011, and again in
    2015, the Government did the right thing by enacting, and then
    re-authorizing, the Zadroga Health and Compensation Act.
    Congress must do the right thing one more time and fully fund
    and extend the VCF.

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you, Ms. Nordstrom.
        We have been joined by a number of the firefighters who
    were first responders, and I want to welcome them, and by
    Congressman Max Rose, who is a cosponsor of this bill.
        Let me just say, before I recognize the next witness, in
    response to what Ms. Nordstrom just said, as I said before,
    there are really two moral responsibilities. Plenty of people
    got sick and will get sick because of what the terrorists did
    on 9/11, but plenty of people got sick and will get sick
    because of what the Federal Government did in the days
    following.
        I remember very clearly the EPA Administrator saying, ``Go
    back to work. Let's get things back to normal. Everything is
    fine.'' I remember the mayor at the time saying, ``Reopen
    Stuyvesant,'' et cetera. I was calling for parents not to send
    their kids back to Stuyvesant. I was telling people not to go
    back to Wall Street, not to go back to work, because it was
    very evident that it wasn't clear.
        The Federal Government bears a heavy moral responsibility
    for what happened. This bill is only a--if we pass it--when we
    pass it, I hope--would be a very, very small partial repayment
    for that moral obligation.
        Ms. Henry?

                TESTIMONY OF ANESTA MARIA ST. ROSE HENRY

        Ms. Henry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Chairman Nadler. Can you use your mike, please?
        Ms. Henry. Okay. Thank you.
        Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Anesta St. Rose
    Henry.
        My husband died a few weeks ago of 9/11-related brain
    cancer. My husband, Candidus, was only 52 years old when he
    died. He missed our son's prom, which was last week, and he
    missed out on our frantic search for a jacket because the one
    we bought was too small and too short.
        Oh, my God.
        So, after that, we were able to get the jacket for our son.
    I just miss my husband because we would have a good laugh at
    that jacket, the way it fit him.
        Candidus was the--oh, God--he was the life of my family.
    Oh, God. He won't be there for my son's graduation, which will
    be on the 19th of this month. Many of the kids his age that
    lost their parents, their parents will not be there for that.
    Also my daughter, his only daughter's wedding, we do not know
    what date is that, but he will not be there to walk her down
    the aisle.
        So not to have to make that--oh, God. Oh, God. So not only
    do I have to make up for his missing presence, but I have to be
    worried about whether we will have enough money for our son's
    college and living expenses. The reason I have to worry is
    because Congress thinks it is okay for my husband's life to be
    worth at least 70 percent less than other construction workers
    that have died or become sick from being at Ground Zero.
        If he died 2 years ago, everything would be okay. I feel
    horrible for those that live--oh, God. I feel horrible for
    those that will die 2 years from now because their family will
    get nothing.
        Candidus was a construction worker and a proud man,
    husband, father, son. He went to work every day. When he was
    assigned to Ground Zero, he was also a proud American.
        His job at Ground Zero was to wash the dust and debris from
    the trucks before they left for the barges and to make sure
    everything was secure, and nothing was sticking out. They
    wanted to be sure human remains were not going to fall off the
    trucks on the way to the barges. While his job may not sound
    glorious, he was proud of it and proud to say he worked at
    Ground Zero.
        After his time at Ground Zero ended, he worked every day as
    a construction laborer, and we raised our family. We are not
    rich, and we lived from paycheck to paycheck, always with some
    sort of credit card bill.
        Although he left Ground Zero in 2002, 15 years later,
    Ground Zero came back to him. Candidus was diagnosed with
    glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer. We were told it was
    extremely rare. We then learned that there are many 9/11
    responders with the same cancer.
        Glioblastoma is a death sentence, and while it took 2
    years, it eventually killed Candidus. It took his mind a few
    months before his death, and while we took care of him for the
    last few months, he was already gone. My son would come home
    from school and my daughter from work and would say, ``Hi,
    Dad,'' and there was only a gaze, and sometimes there was
    nothing. He only wanted to talk to his dad about his day, and
    that was gone.
        When Candidus got sick, that ended the paycheck and
    benefits. Thankfully, the World Trade Center Health Program
    picked up all of the expenses for his care and treatment. They
    were wonderful at the Queens Program, and we wouldn't have
    survived without them.
        We were also able to get some help from the VCF and
    received an award for his cancer. They worked so quickly to get
    that for us because they knew he was dying. Thank you to them
    for that. Please do not cancel them. They are very good. They
    helped us very well.
        Now that Candidus is gone, we do not know what is going to
    happen. We do not have life insurance. We do not have a pension
    or any benefits from his job. Not even his death benefit we
    got. Our only hope was the VCF, and now we do not know if there
    will be much from them now. Because he died after February 2--
    which was also his birthday--2019, we will get at least 70
    percent less than others that died sooner.
        My husband was a proud man and never looked down on others
    or thought that he was better, or his life was worth more than
    that, but I can tell you that his life is not worth less than
    anyone else.
        I know my husband would be proud to be here in person and
    talking to you, because we should have to recognize these
    people are worth more than that because they are more important
    than anything else. They were the ones who picked up everything
    else. Now that he is gone, we do not know what we are going to
    do without him.
        Thank you, everyone.
        [The statement of Ms. Henry follows:]

           PREPARED TESTIMONY OF ANESTA MARIA ST. ROSE HENRY

        Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman--
        My name is Anesta St. Rose Henry and my husband died 2
    weeks ago of 9/11 related brain cancer. Candidus was 52 years
    old when he died. He missed our son's prom last week and missed
    out on the frantic search for a jacket for him hours before the
    prom because the one he initially got turned out to be too
    small. So after we were able to get the jacket and our son went
    to his senior prom Candidus wasn't there for me to laugh with
    about the jacket. He will not be there for his high school
    graduation or to walk his daughter down the aisle when she gets
    married. So not only do I have to make up for his missing
    presence, but now I have to be worried about whether we will
    have enough money for college and living expenses.
        The reason I have to worry is because Congress thinks its
    ok for my husband's life to be worth at least 70% less than
    other construction workers that have died or become sick from
    being at Ground Zero. If he died 2 years ago everything would
    be ok. I feel horrible for those that will die 2 years from now
    because their families will get nothing.
        Candidus was a construction worker and a proud man, husband
    and father. He wanted to work every day. When he was assigned
    to work at Ground Zero he was also a proud American. His job at
    Ground Zero was to wash the dust and debris off the trucks
    before they left for the barges and to make sure everything was
    secure and nothing was sticking out. They wanted be sure human
    remains were not going to fall out of the trucks on their way
    to the barges. While his job may not sound glorious, he was
    proud of it and proud to say he worked at Ground Zero.
        After his time at Ground Zero ended he worked every day as
    a construction laborer and we raised our family. We are not
    rich and we lived pay check to pay check, always with some sort
    of credit card bill. Although he left Ground Zero in 2002, 15
    years later Ground Zero came back to him. Candidus was
    diagnosed with Glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer. We were told
    it was extremely rare. We then learned that there are many 9/11
    responders with the same cancer.
        Glioblastoma is a death sentence and while it took 2 years,
    it eventually killed Candidus. It took his mind a few months
    before his death and while we took care of him for the last few
    months, he was already gone. My son would come home from school
    and say ``Hi Dad'' and there was only a gaze sometimes and
    sometimes there was nothing. He only wanted to talk to his dad
    about his day, and that was gone.
        When Candidus got sick that ended the paychecks and
    benefits. Thankfully the World Trade Center Health Program
    picked up all of the expenses for his care and treatment. They
    were wonderful at the Queens Program and we wouldn't have
    survived without them. We were also able to get some help from
    the VCF and received an award for his cancer. They worked so
    quick to get that for us because we they knew he was dying.
    Thank you to them for that.
        But now that Candidus is gone we don't know what is going
    to happen. We do not have life insurance. We do not have a
    pension or any benefits from his job. Our only hope was the VCF
    and now we don't know if there will be much from them now.
    Because he died after February 2, 2019, we will get at least
    70% less than others that died sooner. My husband was a proud
    man and never looked down on others or thought that he was
    better or his life was worth more than others. BUT I can tell
    you that his life is NOT worth less than anyone else.

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you, Ms. St. Rose Henry. Let me say
    that we are here today to help make sure that Congress does not
    think it is okay that your husband's life is worth 70 percent
    less than other construction workers or than anyone else's. I
    thank you for your testimony. It will help in that goal.
        Mr. Mohnal?

                     TESTIMONY OF THOMAS J. MOHNAL

        Mr. Mohnal. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the
    committee. Thank you for allowing me to testify today.
        My name is Thomas Mohnal, and I began my career with the
    Federal Bureau of Investigation on January 3, 1980, and retired
    on May 30, 2010, as a supervisory special agent explosive and
    hazardous device examiner in the Explosives Unit of the FBI
    Laboratory.
        In the moments after the Pentagon was attacked, I became
    what is known as a 9/11 first responder. Just like others
    sitting with me today, we did our job, and we did it well
    beyond 100 percent. We did everything we could do to rescue
    those that were trapped, and we did everything we could to find
    those who were missing so their families could have the closure
    that they desperately needed.
        Like everyone else here today and all other first
    responders, I will never forget 9/11, and I always knew it
    would be with me. What I didn't know was what that would mean
    some 15 years later to me and my family.
        On 9/11, I was working FBI headquarters in Washington, DC,
    and after the second plane hit the World Trade Center, I was
    directed to go to New York City in response to the FBI
    Laboratory. I departed headquarters en route to my residence in
    Manassas, Virginia, and I was traveling on I-395 South.
        When I was directly across from the Pentagon in stopped
    traffic, at approximately 9:37 a.m., I witnessed American
    Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon. I immediately
    notified our headquarters that a plane had crashed into the
    Pentagon and immediately responded to the crash site and
    started lending assistance to victims in the area.
        FBI agents and Members of the evidence response teams from
    Washington field office began arriving very quickly, fully
    aware that the lifesaving and investigative activities that
    they would undertake in response to this terrorist attack could
    put their lives in danger. Evidence response teams from
    Baltimore, Richmond, Norfolk, Charlotte, and Atlanta also
    deployed to the Pentagon.
        On August 4, 2016, I was diagnosed with follicular non-
    Hodgkin's lymphoma. I was certified by the World Trade Center
    Health Program and received excellent care and regular
    physicals through that excellent program.
        I am here today to ask Congress why they believe that my
    life is not worth the same as those that became sick before me
    and how my life could be worth more than those that will most
    certainly become ill after me.
        It doesn't care who you are, what you did, or when you did
    it. The guidelines are fair and based on the exposure and your
    illness, and then the compensation is based on the economic
    loss and of that particular illness.
        The Special Master over the years has done a great job on
    managing a program fairly and equally in the face of illness,
    death, and despair. Now, because so many people are becoming
    sick and the funds are running out, the Special Master is being
    forced to look at cases through different lenses based on when
    the forms were filed. That means that our lives and illnesses
    now have a different value and meaning.
        I have had the pleasure to come to the Capitol on several
    occasions now with the FealGood Foundation to walk the halls of
    Congress to ask for support for the 9/11 first responders and
    the Victim Compensation Fund. I have learned that every Member
    in Congress has praised the work of first responders and the 9/
    11 first responders. I have learned that on September 11 every
    Member of Congress pauses in remembrance of those that were
    lost that day and those that we will continue to lose. I have
    also learned that every Member of Congress promises to never
    forget.
        I am here to support our colleagues that have become sick
    in the past and those who will become sick in the future. There
    are people in this room right now that will become sick from
    their 9/11 exposure and die. Their families will need the
    support beyond the words ``never forget.''
        Congress has the ability to fix this problem. Nearly every
    FBI evidence response team in the country deployed to one of
    the attack sites to sift through thousands of tons of
    contaminated debris, looking for any shred of evidence that may
    lend assistance in this investigation.
        Passport fragments were found of the hijackers, to include
    the knives that were actually used in the attack were recovered
    from crash sites. This shows the extreme dedication the workers
    had while sifting through contaminated debris, knowing all
    along that this could possibly affect their health.
        Many thousands of Americans, first responders,
    firefighters, police officers, and volunteers have been
    diagnosed with severe health conditions, including cancer, in
    the wake of the attacks. Knowing the type of individuals that
    sacrificed their health and in many cases their lives, they
    would all do the same job all over again for this country.
        This is a nationwide issue, and it must be fixed by our
    leaders in Congress together, as there are no State lines for a
    9/11 illness.
        Thank you for your time.
        [The statement of Mr. Mohnal follows:]

                 PREPARED TESTIMONY OF THOMAS J. MOHNAL

        Good morning Mr. Chairman and Members of the committee:
        My name is Thomas J. Mohnal and I began my career with the
    Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on January 3, 1980 and
    retired on May 30, 2010 as a Supervisory Special Agent--
    Explosive and Hazardous Device Examiner in the Explosives Unit
    of the FBI Laboratory. On June 1, 2010, I began employment with
    Bode Cellmark Forensics as an Explosive and Hazardous Device
    Contractor for the Explosives Unit of the FBI Laboratory,
    Quantico, Virginia.
        As an Explosives and Hazardous Device Examiner in the FBI
    Laboratory my principal role was to examine evidence pertaining
    to the criminal/terrorist use of explosives and improvised
    explosive devices (IEDs). I have been responsible for the
    supervision, management, and/or coordination of forensic
    examinations and have provided technical and investigative
    support for several hundred highly complex bombing/terrorism
    investigations, to include: The 1993 World Trade Center
    bombing, bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building, the
    bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 1998 bombing of the
    U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, the 9/11 terrorist investigation,
    several Vehicle-Borne IEDs in Beirut, Lebanon, the UNABOM
    series from 1982-1996, and the 2005 assassination attempt on
    President Bush in Tbilisi, Georgia.
        In the moments after the Pentagon was attacked, I became
    what is now known as a 9/11 First Responder. Just like the
    others sitting with me we did our job and we did it well beyond
    100%. We did everything we could to rescue those that were
    trapped and, just as important, we did everything we could to
    find those that were missing so that their families could have
    the closure they so desperately wanted. We also made sure that
    the entire world new that we would never back down to terrorism
    and we would move forward, albeit a ``post 9/11 world.'' My
    life was certainly worth no more or less than the other First
    Responders that came to the Pentagon and whether it is
    Shanksville, the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, we were
    one then and we are one now as we sit before you. Like everyone
    else here today and all other first responders, I would never
    forget 9/11 and I always new it would be with me. What I didn't
    know was what that would mean some 15 years later, when 9/11
    took on a whole new personal aspect to me and my family.
        On 9/11/2001 I was working at FBIHQ in the Explosives Unit,
    Laboratory Division and after the second plane hit the World
    Trade Center I was directed to go to New York City in response
    for the FBI Laboratory. I departed FBIHQ enroute to my
    residence in Manassas, Virginia, traveling on I-395 south. When
    I was directly across from the Pentagon in stopped traffic, at
    approximately 9:37 a.m., I witnessed American Airlines Flight
    77 crashing into the Pentagon. I immediately notified FBI
    Headquarters that a plane just crashed into the Pentagon and I
    immediately responded to the crash site and started lending
    assistance to victims in the area. The entire section of the
    crash site was engulfed in a tremendous fire supported from the
    jet fuel. I've done a lot of testing with large amounts of
    explosives, to include gas-enhanced explosions, but I can't
    even describe to you how big and intense the fireball was when
    the plane crashed into the Pentagon. It pretty much encompassed
    the majority of the Pentagon. I spent the entire day at the
    Pentagon providing immediate assistance and on the early
    morning of 9/12/2001 I reported back to the Pentagon to begin
    assisting with the recovery operation and the terrorist
    investigation. I worked the day shift, 10-12 hour days, 5-7
    days per week, from 9/11/2001 until approximately 11/19/2001.
        FBI agents and Members of the Evidence Response Team from
    the Washington Field Office began arriving at the Pentagon
    quickly after the impact, fully aware that the life-saving and
    investigative activities they would undertake in response to
    the terrorist attack could put their lives in danger. Evidence
    Response Teams from Baltimore Maryland, Richmond Virginia,
    Norfork Virginia, Charlotte North Carolina, and Atlanta Georgia
    also deployed to the Pentagon to assists in this terrorism
    investigation. It should be noted that the FBI Evidence
    Response Teams are made up from FBI Special Agents and FBI
    Professional Staff.
        The jet fueled fires continued until the evening of 9/12/
    2001, with fires continuing for approximately a week or so. The
    environment during the first several days featured strong
    odors, fumes from jet fuel, and smoldering debris, which
    included plastics, fiberglass, aluminum, and due to the extreme
    temperature of the fires, even some types of metals. Most FBI
    employees remained outside the building on the first day due to
    the extreme hazards inside, although the smoky haze extended
    well outside the Pentagon's walls.
        Early in the first week, I specifically remember being
    inside the Pentagon on the first floor collecting human remains
    into red Hazmat bags, and looking for other potential evidence.
    We would have been inhaling contaminated air from the fire,
    including dust from the building and chemicals from the plane
    to include the jet fuel. During this very crucial first week of
    evidence recovery, fires continued to re-ignite from the
    extreme heat of the original jet fueled fires. This made the
    recovery task very difficult and dangerous from the
    contaminated air and dust filled building.
        I also have a very specific memory of walking through the
    Pentagon, from the outer ring to the inner ring, with Members
    of the Evidence Response Teams to spend time searching for
    evidence near the nose of the plane. We were often leaning down
    over the water, breathing close to the water, to reach for
    something in or under the water. This water and mud contained
    all sorts of toxins, including but not limited to airline fuel
    and chemicals, as well as dust, debris and chemicals from the
    building, and human remains.
        Later in the following weeks, I have a specific memory of
    working in the debris fields of the parking lots surrounding
    the Pentagon with Members of the Evidence Response Teams. We
    would rake through the debris field on the ground, then squat
    or kneel down over it and sift through it with tools or our
    hands to look for human remains or smaller bits of evidence.
    The smallest fragments of evidence, such as an identification
    card of the hijackers would have provided valuable information
    for this investigation. This debris field would have been
    filled with chemicals, debris, human remains and dust from the
    building and airplane.
        Supervisory Special Agents from the FBI Laboratory,
    Explosives Unit, were deployed to all three (3) of the
    terrorist attack sites to lend their expertise in processing
    major crime scenes and provide assistance to the Evidence
    Response Teams. Considering I witnessed one of the worst
    terrorist attacks on United States soil, I had an obligation to
    myself as well as the FBI to continue working at the Pentagon
    crash site until the completion and to provide as much
    assistance and my expertise in this terrorist investigation as
    I possibly could.
        The last couple weeks at the Pentagon migrated into a
    clean-up operation, however, evidence recovery was still a
    major part of the this process. As contaminated debris was
    removed from the interior of the Pentagon, a sifting operation
    took place. Virtually every pile of debris was systematically
    searched for any possible shred of evidence.
        The Explosive Unit was in charge of the evidence from all
    three of the crash sites. I supervised the photographing of the
    evidence sent into the FBI Laboratory from the Pentagon, from
    the World Trade Center Towers, including all evidence recovered
    from the land fill in New York, and evidence recovered from the
    Shanksville, Pennsylvania crash site. This project took place
    in FBIHQ and at off-site locations in Northern Virginia were
    some of the evidence was stored. The photography, review and
    physical bench notes of the evidence recovered from the three
    attacks took several months to complete. Special Agent Bomb
    Technican's from many FBI Field Offices around the country also
    provided assistance in this tremendous task.
        On August 4, 2016, I went to the emergency room with
    extreme stomach pains expecting to find out I had appendicitis.
    In the normal course of care the doctors had ordered a CT scan
    to assess the situation. The CT scan verified that I had a
    ruptured appendix, and also indicated three (3) tumors that
    were consistent with Lymphoma. My appendix was surgically
    removed and I was later diagnosed with Follicular Non-Hodgkin's
    Lymphoma. Over the last 2\1/2\ years I had 18 cycles of
    chemotherapy treatment and currently on a maintenance treatment
    every 8 weeks. I had two bone marrow biopsies, and nine PET/CT
    scans, with my most recent PET scan indicating a moderate
    increase in size and activity in the tumors. I was certified by
    the World Trade Center Health Program on October 3, 2017 and
    have received excellent care and regular physicals through this
    program.
        I am here today to ask why Congress believes that my life
    is not worth the same as those that became sick before me and
    some how my life is worth more than those that will most
    certainly come after me. The September 11th Victim Compensation
    Fund is not a beauty contest. It doesn't care who you are, what
    you did or when you did it. The guidelines are fair and based
    on your exposure and your illness and then compensation is
    supposed to be based on the illness and economic loss. It is
    not a lottery ticket or a get rich quick scheme. The Special
    Master over the years has done a great job of managing a
    program fairly and equally in the face of illness, death and
    despair. Now, because so many people are becoming sick and the
    funds are running out the Special Master is being forced to
    look at cases through different lenses based on when it was
    filed. That means that our lives and illnesses now have
    different values and meanings. THAT IS ABSURD.
        One thing is certain, THE SPECIAL MASTER DOES NOT HAVE THE
    POWER TO FUND THE PROGRAM, I DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO FUND THE
    PROGAM, NOBODY AT THIS TABLE HAS THE POWER TO FUND THIS
    PROGRAM. ONLY YOU & THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS HAVE THE ABILITY GET
    THE FUNDING TO KEEP THIS PROGRAM RUNNING. ONLY YOU!
        I have had the pleasure to come to the Capitol on several
    occasions now with the FEALGOOD FOUNDATION to walk the halls of
    Congress to ask for support of the 9/11 first responder in the
    VCF. What I have learned was quite eye opening, even given my
    exceptionally unique career in law enforcement. I have learned
    that every member of Congress has praised the work of first
    responders and 9/11 first responders. I have learned that every
    September 11 that every member of Congress pauses in
    remembrance of those lost that day and those that we continue
    to lose. I have learned that every member of Congress promises
    to ``Never Forget.'' Despite all that I have learned from
    coming here I do not understand why WE have to be here today.
        I am here to support my colleagues that have become sick in
    the past and those that will become sick in the future. There
    are people in this room right now that will become sick from
    their 9/11 exposures and die. Their families will need the
    support beyond the words ``Never Forget.'' Their lives are
    worth less than mine because they got sick later than I did. I
    do not really think about those that may receive a higher award
    than my family does. I don't know why, but I just do not.
    HOWEVER, I DO THINK ABOUT THOSE THAT WILL GET LESS THAN I DO
    and it's a HORRIBLE FEELING.
        YOU ARE PUTTING US IN A POSITION WHERE WE HAVE TO SEE
    OTHERS WITH THE SAME ILLNESSES GET LESS. THAT'S A HORRIBLE
    FEELING. MANY OF US ALREADY DEAL WITH THE QUESTION OF WHY WE
    DIDN'T PERISH THAT DAY OR OF ILLNESSES SINCE. THAT'S HEAVY
    ENOUGH. NOW WE HAVE TO THINK THAT WE MAY HAVE RECEIVED MORE
    THAN SOMEONE ELSE? THAT'S NOT A GOOD FEELING.
        CONGRESS has the ability to fix this problem. While we all
    may have somewhat different 9/11 experiences, we were all
    together then, now and in the future. My agency is an example
    of how people came from all over the country to assist at the
    disaster sites. It is also an example of how the illnesses did
    not care where you responded to or where you were from. We have
    lost at least 16 Members of the FBI to 9/11 illness from their
    duty at The Pentagon, Shanksville and Ground Zero. This is a
    nationwide issue and it must be fixed by our leaders in
    Congress together, as there are NO STATE LINES for 9/11
    illnesses and deaths.
        It should also be noted that nearly every FBI Evidence
    Response Team in the country deployed to one of the attack
    sites to sift through thousands of contaminated metric tons of
    debris looking for any shread of evidence that may lean
    assistance in this investigation. Passport fragments of the
    Hijackers, to include the knives that were used in the attack
    were recovered from the crash sites. This shows the extreme
    dedication the Members of the Evidence Response Teams had while
    sifting through tons of contaminated debris, knowing all along
    that this could possibly affect their health.
        As the years have passed, the survivors and first
    responders of that day have had to deal with another
    challenging reminder of our nation's tragedy. Many thousands of
    Americans, First Responders, Fire Fighters, Police Officers and
    Volunteers have been diagnosed with severe health conditions,
    including cancer, in the wake of the attacks. Knowing the type
    of individuals that sacrificed their health and in many cases
    their lives, including myself, would all do the same job all
    over again for this country.

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you.
        Mr. O'Connell?

                     TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL O'CONNELL

        Mr. O'Connell. Good morning.
        Chairman Nadler. Actually, Lieutenant O'Connell.
        Mr. O'Connell. My name is Michael O'Connell, and I am a
    retired lieutenant from the New York City Fire Department.
        I want to personally thank Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member
    Collins, and the Committee Members for allowing me to be here
    today at this hearing to tell my story, which is really no
    different from the thousands of others who suffer from their
    heroic actions.
        Today, I can say thank you to the countless selfless
    heroes, volunteers, survivors, and those affected at the three
    terrorist sites because I get the best healthcare treatment and
    I have been compensated by the September 11th Victim
    Compensation Fund.
        I was just a 25-year-old probationary firefighter on that
    beautiful Tuesday morning of the 11th without a clue as to what
    was happening. I had just transferred from the NYPD in May of
    2001 and was not even graduated from the FDNY Fire Academy on
    that horrific day.
        When the towers were struck, I was home on Long Island and
    immediately raced into Ladder 129 in Flushing, Queens, where I
    was doing my field training. Within minutes of my arrival, we
    started to respond to Lower Manhattan.
        During our response, we were notified of the collapse of
    the south tower of the World Trade Center, and a fellow
    firefighter turned to me and said, ``Do you realize how many
    guys we just lost?'' The truth was I didn't have a clue, but I
    would learn quickly.
        Upon arrival, we went to work right away in the war zone
    later known as Ground Zero. We were given many tasks and tried
    our best to search for human life, but unfortunately, we
    weren't very successful. Countless hours we spent digging by
    hand.
        To this day, there is only one memory etched into my brain
    and one that still haunts me to this day and every night. As
    firefighters, we wear Scott packs that are equipped with pass
    alarms. Pass alarms are meant to go off when a firefighter is
    laid motionless, making a screeching sound so you can go find
    them. Well, for the first few minutes of our arrival and the
    countless hours that passed, that is all we heard. That was our
    brothers trapped beneath the pile of concrete and steel, and we
    could not get to them.
        It is a difficult memory but one that keeps me going. It
    reminds me that those men and women who gave their lives that
    day were selfless. I try my best to live my life to that
    standard every day.
        In the midst of the chaos and loss of life, I can tell you
    that there is another thought that I had: I would not want to
    be anywhere else in the world at that moment. We were there to
    help, and I was part of something that showed the world that we
    would not back down to anyone. We helped bring closure to
    families that just wanted something tangible, some part that
    remained to bury.
        Now it is your turn. You were not there on the pile with
    us, but what you do in this moment is as important as what we
    did at Ground Zero.
        I had worked the pile for days and weeks that followed,
    with very little protection in the dust cloud, and I would
    later pay the ultimate price. The change came on January 1 of
    2007 when I woke up and instantly knew something was wrong. I
    couldn't get out of bed, and it felt like somebody came into
    the room that night and beat me up with a baseball bat. My
    ankles, my legs, my feet were so swollen it made it difficult
    to even walk to the car to get to the doctor.
        I was put through a series of tests, and from what the
    doctors had seen, the prognosis did not look good. My wife
    Rebecca, who was 6 months pregnant with our first child, was
    escorted to a conference room, where a team of doctors waited
    for us to give us the news and told us that this looked like an
    advanced case of lymphoma and that I most likely didn't have
    much time to live.
        At this point, all I wanted to do was make it long enough
    to see the birth of my first child. It is obvious, since I am
    testifying here today, and by the grace of God, I am able to be
    here to tell my story. I am a proud father of three beautiful
    children named Aidan, Colton, and Alexandra, all of which
    witnessed their father battle 9/11 illnesses from the time they
    were born.
        I was very fortunate that the original prognosis was wrong,
    and I was actually diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease
    called sarcoidosis. I was one of the youngest and first
    firefighters diagnosed with sarcoidosis, but hundreds more have
    been diagnosed since. I spent the next few months in recovery,
    and with the proper treatments, I was able to get back on my
    feet. Sadly, I cannot say that about others.
        My career in the FDNY that I was so passionate about was
    cut short, and 9/11 ensured I would be unable to continue as a
    full-duty firefighter, as I was deemed disabled. I was on pace
    to advance through the FDNY as a senior officer, but I was
    unable to finish that dream of protecting the greatest city in
    the world.
        I ask you all respectfully, how is it fair that I was duly
    compensated but others that are now sick and dying from their
    exposure will not be? It seems unfair that I was unlucky enough
    to get sick but lucky that I got sick early enough so that I
    could avoid potential cut or, worse, having no VCF as of
    December 2020.
        How is my family financially safe for a lifetime but the
    families of those not diagnosed are left hanging? These people
    are getting sick 18 years later and are not going to receive
    the same benefits as those who got sick before them because
    they were unlucky to get sick at a time when the VCF is running
    out of funds.
        I speak today in tribute to the 343 firefighters, the 23
    NYPD, and the 37 Port Authority Police officers that didn't
    make it out on September 11, 2001, and to the thousands who are
    still sick and who are dying, and especially for my brother,
    Ray Pfeiffer from the FDNY, who is no longer with us.
        I promised myself to keep fighting for my family and for
    those who are sick or have passed and yet to be compensated,
    because one day I might not be here to tell my story. There
    will be someone else to follow and continue the tradition--a
    tradition that is rich in history and a tradition where no one
    is left behind.
        In closing, I have made countless trips to the Hill with
    the men and women who sit behind me. We came together to join
    forces on the FealGood Foundation team from all walks of life--
    cops, firefighters, construction workers, correction officers,
    civilians, lawyers, students, widows--with one common goal. We
    are simply imploring this Committee to extend and refund the
    VCF so that thousands of people across this great Nation get
    the help that they deserve and they have earned.
        Thank you for your time today, Chairman, Ranking Member,
    and the committee. God bless you, God bless all those sitting
    behind me, and God bless America.
        [The statement of Mr. O'Connell follows:]

                PREPARED TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL O'CONNELL

        My name is Michael O'Connell and I am a retired Lieutenant
    from the Fire Department of the City of New York. I want to
    personally thank Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Collins, and
    the Committee Members for allowing me to be here today at this
    hearing to tell my story, which is really no different from the
    thousands of others who suffer from their heroic actions.
        Today, I can say thank you to those countless selfless
    heroes, volunteers, survivors, and those affected at the three
    terrorist sites because I get the best health care treatment
    and I have been compensated by the September 11th Victim
    Compensation Fund.
        I was just a twenty-five year old probationary firefighter
    on that beautiful Tuesday morning of the 11th, without a clue
    as to what was happening. I had just transferred from the New
    York City Police Department in May of 2001, and was not even
    graduated from the FDNY Fire Academy on that horrific day.
        When the towers were struck, I was home on Long Island and
    immediately raced into the Ladder 129 Fire House in Flushing,
    Queens where I was doing my field training. Within minutes of
    my arrival, we started to respond to Lower Manhattan.
        During our response we were notified of the collapse of the
    south tower of the World Trade Center and a fellow firefighter
    turned to me and said, ``do you realize how many guys we just
    lost?'' The truth was that I didn't have a clue, but I would
    learn quickly.
        Upon arrival, we went to work right in the war zone later
    known as ``Ground Zero.'' We were given many tasks and tried
    our best to search for human life, but unfortunately, we were
    not very successful. Countless hours we spent digging by hand.
        To this day, there is only one true memory etched into my
    brain, and one that still haunts me when I put my head on the
    pillow at night. As firefighters, we wear Scott packs that are
    equipped with pass alarms. A pass alarm is meant to go off and
    make a loud screeching sound in the likelihood that a
    firefighter is stuck and is motionless. For the first few
    minutes of our arrival, and the countless hours that passed,
    that is all we heard. Our brothers were trapped beneath that
    pile of concrete and steel and we could not get to them. It is
    a difficult memory, but one that keeps me going. It reminds me
    that those men and women who gave their lives that day were
    selfless, and I try my best to live my life to that standard.
        In the midst of the chaos and loss of life, I can tell you
    that there is another thought that I had. I would not want to
    be anywhere else in the world at that moment. We were there to
    help, and I was part of something that showed the world that we
    would not back down to anyone. We helped bring closure to
    families that just wanted something tangible, some part that
    remained, to bury. Now it is your turn, you were not there on
    the Pile, but what you do in this moment is just as important
    as what we all did at Ground Zero.
        I had worked the pile for the days and weeks that followed,
    with very little protection in that dust cloud, and I would
    later pay the ultimate price. That change came on January first
    of 2007, when I woke up, and instantly knew something was
    wrong. I couldn't get out of bed, and it had felt like someone
    came in my room that night, and beat me up with a baseball bat.
    My legs, ankles and feet were so swollen, it made it very
    difficult to walk to the car to get to the doctor. I was put
    through a series of tests that day, and from what the doctors
    had seen, the prognosis did not look good.
        My wife Rebecca, who was six months pregnant with our first
    child, was escorted to a conference room where the team of
    doctors gave us the news: that this looked like an advanced
    case of lymphoma, and that I most likely did not have much time
    left. At this point, all I wanted to do was make it long enough
    to see the birth of my first child.
        It is obvious that, since I am testifying here today, and
    by the grace of God, we know what happened. I am a proud father
    of three beautiful children named Aidan, Colton, and Alexandra,
    who have witnessed their father battle 9/11 illnesses since
    they were born.
        I was very fortunate that the original prognosis was wrong.
    I was actually diagnosed with a very rare autoimmune disease
    called sarcoidosis. I was one of the youngest and first
    firefighters diagnosed with sarcoidosis. Hundreds more have
    been diagnosed since.
        I spent the next few months in recovery, and with the
    proper treatments, I was able to get back on my feet. Sadly, I
    cannot say that about others.
        My career in the FDNY that I was so passionate about was
    cut short, and 9/11 ensured I would be unable to continue as a
    full duty firefighter. I was on pace to advance throughout the
    FDNY as a senior officer, but I was unable to finish that dream
    of protecting the greatest city in the world.
        I ask you all, respectfully, how is it fair that I was duly
    compensated, but others that are now sick and dying from their
    exposure will not be? It seems unfair that I was unlucky to get
    sick, but lucky in that I got sick early, so that I could avoid
    a potential cut, or worse, having no VCF after December 2020?
        How is my family financially safe for a lifetime, but the
    families of those not yet diagnosed are left hanging? These
    people are sick eighteen years later, and are not going to
    receive the same benefits as those who got sick before them,
    because they are unlucky to get sick at a time when the VCF is
    running out of funds.
        I speak today in tribute to the 343 firefighters, the 23
    NYPD, and the 37 PAPD that didn't make it out on September 11,
    2001, and to the thousands who are still sick, and who are
    dying, and especially for my brother firefighter Ray Pfeiffer
    of the FDNY and who is no longer with us. I promised myself to
    keep fighting for my family, and for those who are sick or who
    have passed and have yet to be compensated. Because one day, I
    might not be here to tell my story, but there will be someone
    else to follow and continue that tradition, a tradition that is
    rich in history, and a tradition where we leave no one behind.
        In closing, I have made countless trips to the hill with
    the men and women behind me. We are simply imploring this
    Committee to extend and re-fund the VCF, so that thousands of
    people across our great Nation get the help that they deserve
    and they have earned.
        Thank you for your time today, Chairman, Ranking Member,
    and the Committee. God bless you and God bless those behind me,
    and God bless America.

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you very much, Lieutenant.
        Detective Alvarez?

                       TESTIMONY OF LUIS ALVAREZ

        Mr. Alvarez. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is
    Luis Alvarez, and I am a retired NYPD detective from the bomb
    squad and a proud military veteran.
        Less than 24 hours from now, I will be starting my 69th
    round of chemotherapy. Yeah, you heard that correct. I should
    not be here with you, but you made me come. You made me come
    because I will not stand by and watch as my friends with cancer
    from 9/11, like me, are valued less than anyone else because of
    when they get sick or they die.
        I have been lucky enough to have had 68 rounds of chemo.
    Yeah, you heard me right--68 rounds. Many others haven't had
    the opportunity to have five, and some have had none. Their
    families would love to have the time with them that mine has
    had with me.
        I have been lucky enough to have the pain and suffering of
    69 rounds of chemo and countless other treatments and
    surgeries, it is my goal and it is my legacy to see that you do
    the right thing for all 9/11 responders.
        Please understand that we are not here for anything for
    ourselves. We became police officers, firefighters, paramedics
    to help others. We went to Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and
    Shanksville to help people first and then help their families
    bury someone or something. We were there with one mission, and
    we left after completing that mission.
        I have been to many places in this world and done many
    things, but I can tell you that I did not want to be anywhere
    else but Ground Zero when I was there. We were part of showing
    the world that we would never back down from terrorism and that
    we could all work together--no races, no colors, no politics.
        Now the 9/11 illnesses have taken many of us, and we are
    all worried about our children and spouses and our families if
    we are not here. The VCF has done a wonderful job and treated
    my family with greatest respect. My life isn't worth more than
    the next responder to get cancer. My family's needs are not
    worth less than any others who have already died.
        This fund is not a ticket to paradise. It is there to
    provide for our families when we can't. Nothing more.
        You all said you would never forget. Well, I am here to
    make sure that you don't. You made me come down here the day
    before my 69th round of chemo, and I am going to make sure that
    you never forget to take care of the 9/11 responders.
        Thank you for your time.
        [The statement of Mr. Alvarez follows:]

                   PREPARED TESTIMONY OF LUIS ALVAREZ

        Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman--
        My name is Luis Alvarez and I am a retired NYPD Detective
    from the Bomb Squad and proud military veteran. Less than 24
    hours from now I will start my 69th Round of Chemotherapy. Yes
    that's correct 69th Round.
        I should not be here today but YOU made me come. YOU made
    me come because I will not stand by and watch as my friends
    with cancer from 9/11 like me are valued less than anyone else
    is because of when they get sick or die.
        I have been lucky enough to have 69 rounds of chemo. Yes i
    said lucky. Many others only had 5 and some had none. Their
    families would love to have had the time with them that mine
    has had with me. So because I have been lucky enough to have
    the pain and suffering of 69 rounds of chemo and countless
    other treatments, it is my goal and will be my legacy to see
    that YOU do the right thing for all 9/11 responders.
        Please understand that we do not want ANYTHING for
    ourselves. We became police officers, fire fighters, paramedics
    to help others. We went to Ground Zero, the Pentagon and
    Shanksville to help people first and then to help their
    families bury something. We were there together with one
    mission and we left after completing the mission.
        I have been to many places in this world and done many
    things but I can tell you that I did not want to be anywhere
    else but Ground Zero when I was there. We were part of showing
    the world we would never back down from terrorism and that we
    could all work together. No races, no colors and no politics.
        Now the 9/11 illnesses have taken many of us and we are all
    worried about our children, our spouses and our families and
    what happens if we are not here. The VCF has done a wonderful
    job and treated my family with great respect. But my life isn't
    worth more than the next responder to get cancer. My family's
    needs are not worth less than others that have already died.
        This fund is not a lottery ticket to paradise. It is there
    to provide for our families when we can't. Nothing more.
        Those of us that were at Ground Zero, the Morgue, Fresh
    Kills Landfill, the Pentagon and Shanksville WILL NEVER FORGET.
    Every single member of Congress has said they will NEVER FORGET
    and they say NEVER FORGET every September 11th. Its NOT one day
    per year for many of us, it's ever day.
        You all said you would ``Never Forget.'' Well I am here to
    make sure that you don't. I am here because others cannot get
    here. I would rather be back at Ground Zero again than be here,
    working together.
        YOU MADE ME COME HERE THE DAY BEFORE MY 69th ROUND OF CHEMO
    and I am going to make sure you NEVER FORGET to take care of
    the 9/11 Responders.
        I am going to leave you with this . . . . I will complete
    my 69th round of chemo tomorrow . . . for a moment I want you
    to think about how many tens of thousands of rounds of chemo
    the 9/11 first responders have completed so far and how many
    tens of thousands are still come . . . .
        WE DID THAT FOR YOU & WE WILL KEEP DOING IT . . . . PLEASE
    DO NOT DISRESPECT US & MAKE US BEG FOR OUR FAMILIES.

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you, Detective Alvarez.
        Mr. Stewart?

                        TESTIMONY OF JON STEWART

        Mr. Stewart. I want to thank Mr. Collins and Mr. Nadler for
    putting this together, but as I sit here today, I can't help
    but think what an incredible metaphor this room is for the
    entire process that getting healthcare and benefits for 9/11
    first responders have come to: Behind me, a filled room of 9/11
    first responders; and in front of me, a nearly empty Congress.
        Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to
    speak--to no one. It is shameful. It is an embarrassment to the
    country, and it is a stain on this institution. You should be
    ashamed of yourselves, for those that aren't here, but you
    won't be, because accountability doesn't appear to be something
    that occurs in this chamber.
        We don't want to be here. Lu doesn't want to be here. None
    of these people want to be here. They are not here for
    themselves. They are here to continue fighting for what is
    right.
        Lu is going to go back for his 69th chemo. The great Ray
    Pfeiffer would come down here, his body riddled with cancer and
    pain to where he couldn't walk. The disrespect shown to him and
    to the other lobbyists on this bill is utterly unacceptable.
        I would be so angry at the latest injustice that is done to
    these men and women and another business card thrown our way as
    a way of shooing us away like children trick-or-treating rather
    than the heroes that they are and will always be. Ray would
    say, ``Calm down, Johnny. Calm down. I got all the cards I
    need.'' He would tap his pocket where he kept the prayer cards
    of 343 firefighters.
        The official FDNY response time to 9/11 was 5 seconds. Five
    seconds. That is how long it took for FDNY, for NYPD, for Port
    Authority, for EMS to respond to an urgent need from the
    public. Five seconds.
        Hundreds died in an instant. Thousands more poured in to
    continue to fight for their brothers and sisters.
        The breathing problems started almost immediately, and they
    were told they weren't sick, they were crazy. Then, as the
    illnesses got worse and things became more apparent, ``Well,
    okay, you are sick, but it is not from the pile.'' When the
    science became irrefutable, ``Okay, it is the pile, but this is
    a New York issue. I don't know if we have the money.''
        I am sorry if I sound angry and undiplomatic, but I am
    angry. You should be too. They are all angry as well, and they
    have every justification to be that way.
        There is not a person here, there is not an empty chair on
    that stage that didn't tweet out: Never forget the heroes of 9/
    11, never forget their bravery, never forget what they did,
    what they gave to this country.
        Well, here they are. Where are they?
        It would be one thing if their callous indifference and
    rank hypocrisy were benign, but it is not. Your indifference
    cost these men and women their most valuable commodity: Time.
    It is the one thing they are running out of.
        This should be flipped. This hearing should be flipped.
    These men and women should be up on that stage, and Congress
    should be down here answering their questions as to why this is
    so damn hard and takes so damn long and why, no matter what
    they get, something is always pulled back and they have to come
    back.
        Mr. Johnson, you made a point earlier, and it was one that
    we have heard over and over again in these halls, and I
    couldn't help but to answer to it--you guys are obviously
    heroes, and 9/11 was a big deal, but we have a lot of stuff
    here to do. We have to make sure there is money for a variety
    of disasters--hurricanes and tornadoes.
        This wasn't a hurricane and this wasn't a tornado. By the
    way, that is your job anyway. We can't fund these programs. You
    can.
        Setting aside that no American in this country should face
    financial ruin because of a health issue, certainly 9/11 first
    responders shouldn't have to decide whether to live or to have
    a place to live.
        The idea that you can only give them 5 more years of the
    VCF because you are not quite sure what is going to happen 5
    years from now? Well, I can tell you, I am pretty sure what is
    going to happen 5 years from now: More of these men and women
    are going to get sick, and they are going to die.
        I am awfully tired of hearing that it is a 9/11 New York
    issue. Al-Qaida didn't shout ``Death to Tribeca.'' They
    attacked America. These men and women and their response to it
    is what brought our country back. It is what gave a reeling
    Nation a solid foundation to stand back upon, to remind us of
    why this country is great, of why this country is worth
    fighting for. You are ignoring them and you can end it
    tomorrow.
        Why this bill isn't unanimous consent and a standalone
    issue is beyond my comprehension. I have yet to hear a
    reasonable explanation for why. It will get stuck in some
    transportation bill or some appropriations bill and get sent
    over to the Senate, where a certain someone from the Senate
    will use it as a political football to get themselves maybe
    another new import tax on petroleum. Because that is what
    happened to us in 2015. We won't allow it to happen again.
        Thank God for people like John Feal, thank God for people
    like Ray Pfeiffer, thank God for all these people who will not
    let it happen. They responded in 5 seconds. They did their jobs
    with courage, grace, tenacity, humility. Eighteen years later,
    do yours.
        Thank you.
        [The statement of Mr. Stewart follows:]

                   PREPARED TESTIMONY OF JOHN STEWART

        Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Collins and Members of the
    Committee, thank you for letting me join these 9/11 responders
    and survivors, these heroes, today on this panel.
        Thank you for this hearing today on the September 11th
    Victim Compensation Fund and the legislation Never Forget the
    Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim
    Compensation Fund--that would fully fund the program and extend
    its authorization.
        You have just heard in agonizing detail why you need to Act
    on this legislation.
        Many talk about 9/11 and how the country responded to it,
    but frankly the response on the impact of the toxins at Ground
    Zero, as these men and women have outlined, has not been as
    good as it should have been--to say the least.
        First, the issues these heroes face is squarely the fault
    of terrorists. But in the rush to get Wall Street open again
    and move people back in, mistakes were made.
        People--local residents, students and commuters into the
    area (as well as responders)--were told that the air was safe.
    But it was not. Children were brought back to school next to a
    toxic pit--and then it was denied--for years--that there was a
    health problem. Those who responded and worked in the pit--and
    had the most exposure--were of course the first to feel the
    effects. Soon residents became ill, too--with persistent coughs
    or rare cancers.
        So, for many years since 9/11, these responders and
    residents had to walk the halls of Congress, looking to see if
    ``Remember 9/11'' is more than a cheap twitter slogan senators
    and representatives use to nod in the direction of empathy
    without having to do anything.
        They had to work to get Congress to provide Health care for
    these injuries from toxins; they had to work to get
    compensation for the injuries so that their families would not
    suffer.
        First responders, firefighters, police, construction
    workers, Red Cross volunteers, transit workers, FBI agents and
    schoolteachers have had to go door to door down your gold- and
    marble-lined hallways, because 17 years after the attacks on 9/
    11, they and their families are still dealing with the impact
    of the toxins at Ground Zero.
        They are in every State and 433 out of 435 Congressional
    Districts.
        The fact that they have had continue to do this is beyond
    my comprehension.
        I have to say that my impression of Washington might be
    changing.
        Some things are getting done.
        Just a few weeks ago I said that the Trump Justice
    Department was doing a good job running the program, I would
    never have thought that I would say it, but I did because it is
    true.
        The fact that this hearing is happening in this Committee
    today is heartening. I understand there has been some recent
    unpleasantness.
        This legislation has over 300 bipartisan sponsors. 300
    Members of the House agreeing to take action is pretty good.
        I want to thank Ranking Member Collins for his support
    today; he and Mr. Nadler have set an example that the parties
    can come together. All of the support gives me some hope.
        There seems to be a general understanding and agreement
    that compensating the 9/11 heroes through this bill needs to
    happen. I thank all of you--Republicans and Democrats--for
    that.
        These people can't wait--the cuts to them or their
    survivors are happening now.
        I know that this is going to cost a lot, but you need
    figure out how to pay for it.
        It is not their job to tell you how to pay for it--they did
    their job.
        I ask you to move this bill and get it to the floor.
        Two weeks ago, I was at Ground Zero for the dedication of
    the National September 11th Memorial, for the dedication of a
    new memorial glade, with ragged stone monoliths that honor
    those who have become ill and those that have died from 9/11
    related illnesses.
        The space will never bring closure to those who have lost
    so much and continue to suffer so deeply, but it recognizes the
    great courage and strength they gave so willingly and the price
    they continue to pay.
        But they need this bill. Please help them.

        Chairman Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Stewart.
        We will now proceed under the 5-minute Rule with questions,
    and I will begin by recognizing myself for 5 minutes.
        Ms. Bhattacharyya, what are some of the factors that have
    led to the increase in the number of claims that the VCF has
    seen over the last year? And how should these factors influence
    Congress' decision-making as it determines whether and how best
    to reauthorize the VCF?
        Ms. Bhattacharyya. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate
    the question.
        There have been, I think, four major changes in the VCF
    over the last few years from what Congress saw when it last
    reauthorized this bill in 2015 and allocated the $7.375
    billion.
        The first is that the total number of claims that have been
    filed has increased significantly. In the first 5 years of the
    fund, from 2011 to 2016, we had just over 19,000 compensation
    forms filed. In the last 2-1/2 years, we have received 28,000
    more.
        The reasons for those, I think, are three. The first is
    that there is a significant increase in the number of claims
    being filed on behalf of victims who have died as a result of
    their 9/11-related conditions as we get further away from the
    attacks. As the seriousness of the illnesses become more
    apparent, we see more and more of these claims. At the end of
    2015, we had just 600 deceased claims. We now have well over
    2,000 of them.
        The second thing is that the number of claimants with
    cancer conditions continues to increase. We have found over
    8,800 claimants eligible because of a cancer condition, and we
    have made over 7,500 awards due to cancers. In 2015, we had
    seen only a fraction of that number.
        The third is that we are seeing a substantial increase in
    claims filed by the survivor community, those who lived,
    worked, or went to school in the area. In the first 5 years of
    the program, survivor claims were just 14 percent of the awards
    that were made. Now they account for almost 40 percent of the
    claims that are being filed.
        We think that is due to two things. The first are the
    increase in cancer rates, and the second is that the VCF
    suffered from a significant information gap in the early years
    of the program. Many people in the New York area were under the
    assumption that the program was only for first responders, and
    as we have been able to do more outreach, as the World Trade
    Center Health Program has been able to do more outreach, partly
    because of the reauthorization of the bill in 2015, we have
    been able to reach more people who are sick, more people who
    are dying, and those claims are now coming in.
        Chairman Nadler. Thank you.
        In your written testimony, you note that, in determining
    the amount of noneconomic loss for a claimant, collateral
    offsets must be subtracted in full from any reduced award
    amount.
        In light of this, is it possible that some claimants may,
    in fact, end up with no money despite the fact that they are
    legally entitled to money from the VCF?
        Ms. Bhattacharyya. So, yes, Congressman, that is possible.
        Chairman Nadler. Thank you.
        Dr. Moline, how many more people do you think would be at
    risk of developing 9/11-related illnesses, including cancers,
    in the next 25 to 50 years? Is it possible to know the exact
    number of people who will develop illnesses at this point in
    time?
        Dr. Moline. It is not possible to know the exact number,
    but based on the rates that are increasing, there are going to
    be 10,000 to 20,000 more cancers, I would estimate.
        Chairman Nadler. 10 thousand to 20,000 more cancers?
        Dr. Moline. Yes.
        Chairman Nadler. Plus, other diseases?
        Dr. Moline. Plus, other diseases. As we heard about
    sarcoidosis, which is a fairly rare disease but is common in
    World Trade Center-exposed individuals.
        We are going to see folks who have lung diseases that may
    require lung transplants. There have already been a number of
    individuals in the World Trade Center Health Programs that have
    required lung transplants due to scarring of the lungs from the
    glass and the concrete and everything else that caused a
    reaction in their lungs.
        Chairman Nadler. So, as an order of magnitude, you said
    about 30,000, 40,000, maybe?
        Dr. Moline. You know, it is hard to predict, but based on
    the rates and the number of folks that were exposed, that
    number is accurate.
        Chairman Nadler. Thank you.
        Ms. Nordstrom, while the terrorists who carried out the
    attacks against the United States on 9/11 bear the ultimate
    responsibility for all the harms caused by the attacks, you
    note the Federal Government's responsibility in heightening the
    risk to responders and Members of the community in the days
    after the attacks.
        In particular, the EPA at the time gave false assurances
    that the air around Ground Zero was, quote, ``safe to
    breathe,'' assurances for which the then-EPA Administrator has
    since apologized and acknowledged were wrong.
        As a matter of moral responsibility, do you agree that
    Congress, as representatives of the American people, should
    help to give some measure of compensation to victims for the
    harms they have suffered that were exacerbated by the
    government's own actions at the time?
        Ms. Nordstrom. I think they absolutely should.
        I mean, I am sitting before you as someone who was present
    on 9/11 but I was not caught in the dust cloud. There is no
    reason that my respiratory health or my gastrointestinal health
    should have been impacted by the events of 9/11. I only have
    these conditions because I was sent back. I was only sent back
    because the Federal Government assured New Yorkers that the air
    downtown was safe to breathe.
        I was a child at the time; I was in no position to make
    that decision for myself. I was not only following the wishes
    of the adults in my life, but also the wishes of the
    government, which at every level, seemed to assure us that we
    were going to be fine in an environment where we were
    surrounded by dust and debris and fires that would burn for
    another 4 months.
        Chairman Nadler. Thank you.
        My time has expired.
        Mr. Johnson?
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Thank all of you. There are too few issues today that draw
    everybody in Congress together. This is one of them.
        Mr. Stewart, what you said is exactly right. I would not
    interpret some of the empty chairs as indifference. By virtue
    of its jurisdiction, this is a Subcommittee of House Judiciary.
    If it were the full committee, you would have many more Members
    here. Because we are a subcommittee, sometimes the scheduling
    gets crossed with other larger full Committee hearings. Some of
    them are there this morning and they send their regrets.
        We are going to make them all watch this tape, because the
    testimony was so compelling. I have been in politics a while. I
    can't recall being so moved by testimony as I was today. I
    cried through most of this. All of us did. It is just
    incomprehensible, what the terrorists did to our Nation and the
    harm that it continues to inflict.
        So, if it is any comfort to you all, we know this bill is
    going to pass with an overwhelming landslide majority of the
    House. It may be unanimous, or close to it as it should be.
        [Applause.]
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Yeah, I will. I will.
        As I said in my opening statement, I mean, I am the son of
    a disabled, permanently injured first responder myself. My dad
    was a fire captain. So, I get it. I know what you have been
    through. That is why it was so painful to hear your personal
    stories, because I have lived it myself. So, I get that.
        I said in the opening remarks, just as we do with
    everything, we want to do the fair and just thing, we want to
    compensate everyone. But we also have a fiscal responsibility
    thing that we have to be mindful of the whole time, and that is
    the only question.
        So, I just have one question.
        Ms. Bhattacharyya, the CBO can't give us a score on this.
    They won't. We are marking it up tomorrow. It is going to pass
    committee. I think it is going to sail through, but has your
    office done any kind of estimate on the total cost of what this
    will be ultimately?
        Ms. Bhattacharyya. So, Congressman, we have done
    projections about what we expect the total cost would have been
    had we not done reduced awards for claims expected to be filed
    through December 18, 2020, which is the current sunset date. We
    believe that we would need about $12 billion to compensate all
    the claims expected to be filed by that date, which is about $5
    billion more than we currently have.
        We have not done any projections beyond that closing date.
        Chairman Nadler. Would the gentleman yield for a moment?
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Sure.
        Chairman Nadler. I just want to say, CBO is scoring the
    bill.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. They are?
        Chairman Nadler. They are scoring it. We don't know and
    they don't know when they will have a score, but they are
    scoring it.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. It will be after the fact, but
    that is fine.
        Mr. Stewart. I don't know how to do this, but can I add to
    that--
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. I will yield to you.
        Mr. Stewart. --if I may?
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Sure.
        Mr. Stewart. Thank you for yielding.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. We have to, Jon. We have to.
        Mr. Stewart. I bend the knee to you.
        You know, when we talk about the price, the attacks on 9/11
    have been used in our government to justify all measure of
    policy and spending, to the tune of trillions of dollars.
        Just recently, there was a farm bill that was $25 billion
    that helps farmers that are in need based on policies that are
    beyond their control. I believe our government should do that.
    This is less than half of that, a third of that.
        There was a corporate tax cut that was made by our
    Congress.
        So, it is very difficult for us to hear, ``Geez, I don't
    know. You know, we are tight on money right now.'' It is a
    little cruel, because it is hard for me to understand that
    Exxon has a more urgent need than our first responder
    community.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. No, nobody believes that, Jon. I
    mean--
        Mr. Stewart. But it is--
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Yeah.
        Mr. Stewart. When you talk about fiscal responsibility, you
    talk about priorities. Priorities mean actions and not deeds.
    The priority of words from this Congress is always that
    character and patriotism are the priority and that we all must
    be willing to pay the price of freedom.
        This is the price. When we show up with the bill, you
    cannot take a proverbial knee.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. No, you are right.
        Look, I have 30 seconds left. Let me reclaim the time
    because that is what we do under this procedure.
        Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. I agree with you. I am telling
    you that the action is going to follow the rhetoric, and you
    are going to get it from--
        Mr. Stewart. We should have to be here.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. No, you are right. You shouldn't
    have to be here. You should not have to be here.
        The only question is, if we authorize it to 2090, do we
    have any idea what that is going to cost. Just because we need
    to know because we are doing budgeting, not because it is not
    the top priority and should be, Jon.
        We are just saying, to be good fiscal stewards of all this,
    do we even have an idea of what that ultimate number might be.
    I will leave it--that is the final question.
        Ms. Bhattacharyya. You know, the problem is, I think as Dr.
    Moline has described, there is no way for us to know how many
    people were exposed. CBO originally estimated somewhere between
    685 and 500,000 people. There is no way for us to know how many
    of those exposed will actually get sick, partly because of the
    latency periods associated with cancer.
        So, unfortunately, we have not been able to make those
    projections beyond December 18, 2020.
        Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. I just want to say, even if it
    is--I am done, Mr. Chairman. I am out of time. Even if it is an
    astronomical number, it is a responsibility of the government.
    We know that. The question is, can we just figure out what that
    number is, and that is it.
        I will yield back. I am out of time. Thank you.
        Chairman Nadler. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
        Let me just point out on time I will assume, the terrorists
    declared war on us. When we declare war on somebody, whether it
    is Japan in 1941 or Al-Qaida now, we don't have a cost
    estimate. We don't have a time estimate; we don't have a cost
    estimate. We just say we have to do it.
        We will have some sort of a cost estimate. It may not be
    accurate. Who knows? I mean, when you are talking about--but
    this is part of a war that was declared on us, and we have to
    do it.
        The cost estimate may follow, may not. CBO will guess. They
    will give us a cost. It will be a pure guess. I don't know how
    accurate that will be; they don't know either. It doesn't
    matter. This is part of a war, and it is part of something we
    have to do, and we will do it.
        The gentleman from Tenessee, Chairman of the subcommittee,
    Mr. Cohen.
        Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        I appreciate each and every one of you who have worked on
    this issue and worked at 9/11. Your testimony, Mr. Alvarez,
    Lieutenant O'Connell, everybody here, has been touching. It has
    told a story. It will be relayed to Members of Congress and to
    the public through the media and through word of mouth.
        This is an American tragedy. It was attack on America and
    you did your jobs. Thank you.
        The New York Fire Department is an institution that I think
    we all in America hold in high regard. NYFD hats are everywhere
    because people respect what the fire department did, going into
    those towers and sacrificing their lives and continuing to go
    through the debris and look for survivors.
        So, it will be done. Mr. Johnson well expressed the fact
    that we will pass this bill and we will get it done.
        I am going to defend an institution that is sometimes not
    easy to defend but is the bulwark of democracy, and that is the
    United States Congress. The United States Congress is a good
    body that represents people in their districts and comes
    together. It doesn't always come together and express itself in
    policies that I agree with, and I don't get everything I want,
    but you get something. You work together.
        This is a Subcommittee of a committee. My subcommittee,
    every single member on my side, which is eight of us, have been
    here today. Like Ms. Garcia said, I have a Financial Services
    Committee. We have other committees at the same time. Some
    Members are in their offices, busy with constituents, where
    they may be watching on television, because this is broadcast.
        The Subcommittee is only eight Members, including Mr.
    Nadler, who is ex officio of all the subcommittees, on my side,
    and I think five on Mr. Johnson's side. I know Mr. Collins was
    here, and he is a sponsor of the bill.
        Our attendance was pretty good. All these empty chairs,
    that is because this is for the full of committee. It is not
    because of disrespect or lack of attention to you. That is not
    true. We will respond, and we will see that this is funded.
        Now, Mr. Stewart, I appreciate what you have done, what you
    do, and what you said. The Congress will respond, in spite of
    the fact that we spent trillions of dollars on tax breaks for
    corporations and the wealthiest people in this country, many of
    whom are on the Upper East Side, many of whom are living in
    expensive, expensive places and didn't need the tax cut. That
    is where the money should be.
        There is a lot of money that ought to go into research on
    diseases at the National Institutes of Health to keep all of us
    alive that we are not giving because we are spending it on
    defense projects, some of which are not necessary, because they
    are being spent for the producers of the weapons and not to
    defend America.
        We need budget priorities and budget sense, but it comes
    together in a majority. There is an issue that Mr. Johnson
    raised about fiscal responsibility. We gave it away last year
    when we passed that tax bill. We gave the upper one-half of 1
    percent money they didn't need--people who you were fighting to
    protect and work for.
        So, I am not happy with Congress with that bill. I voted
    against it. I called it a tax scam, and I believe it was.
        I will work for you, and I will work for people who have
    sickness and disease and who fight for others and sacrifice
    themselves and don't make six-figure salaries. Because we need
    to look upon people who are just getting from day to day and
    trying to help others, and the police and the fire departments
    do that.
        To Mr. Alvarez, thank you so much for being here, and God
    bless you. God bless you.
        I yield back the balance of my time.
        Chairman Nadler. The gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Raskin.
        Mr. Raskin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        The first thing I want to say is that the title of the
    legislation is ``Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent
    Authorization of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.'' I am
    delighted to be a strong supporter of the legislation, a
    cosponsor of the legislation.
        I am especially delighted, after hearing the incredibly
    powerful and poignant testimony of our witnesses today, that
    the word ``permanent'' is in there. Because the people in this
    room today made a permanent, lifelong commitment to the
    community of America when they went to rescue, to help, and to
    assist. We need to make a permanent, lifelong commitment to the
    people in this room--not for 5 years, not 10 years, but for as
    long as we have them with us, we must be committed to them.
        Something that Mr. Stewart said reminded me of this essay
    that I once read by George Orwell, who contrasted patriotism
    and nationalism. He said patriotism is about a true devotion to
    your community, neighbors, friends, family, to the values, your
    Constitution, and to the community. That is what patriotism is.
    Nationalism is just about sinking your individuality into some
    mythic, military hole to go to war against people from other
    countries.
        The people in the room today are real patriots. We have to
    be patriots too, Mr. Chairman. We must pass this legislation to
    demonstrate that we really do take care of our own people and
    we are devoted to the community, that is America.
        Maybe they were victims of misfortune the day that those 18
    hijackers, most of them Saudis, pumped up with religious hatred
    and extremism and zealotry, came to attack our country. So
    maybe they were victims of misfortune. If today they are not
    getting the healthcare that they need, they are not just
    victims of misfortune, they are victims of an injustice
    perpetrated by our government.
        Life is hard enough on our people, with all of the
    misfortunes, with the sicknesses, illnesses, injuries, and
    accidents, that the government should not be compounding the
    misfortunes of life with the injustice of denying people the
    healthcare that they need and they should be receiving in the
    richest society that ever existed at the richest moment that it
    was ever in existence.
        So, we are going to make this happen.
        Ms. Nordstrom, I want to ask you a question. Your story is
    very poignant to me. You are describing what happened to
    schoolchildren who were sent back to the neighborhood when it
    was no longer safe. Now you describe how many of your
    classmates are coming down with asthma, cancer, and fatal
    diseases. You have already lost some of them as you described
    being at your 20th reunion? Is that right?
        Ms. Nordstrom. Not even my 20th reunion.
        Mr. Raskin. Not even.
        Ms. Nordstrom. That is in a few years.
        Mr. Raskin. Okay. How does America or how does the city
    keep track of people in your situation? Who reached out to you?
    I assume that the fire departments and the police departments
    have a way of communicating with people, but who is keeping
    track of people in your situation?
        Ms. Nordstrom. That has been incredibly challenging. One of
    the reasons that this fund closing, when it does, will really
    be harmful for us is that a lot of people in my situation are
    not aware that they qualify for these services.
        A lot of the coverage of these services gets directed at
    responders, and because of that, a lot of survivors, especially
    those outside of the city--and we live nationally dispersed. I
    live in California. I do not live in New York City. I haven't
    for 12 years.
        A lot of us don't have local advocates on this issue. There
    is no local press coverage of this issue. So, there is a large
    group of people that may already be sick who just aren't aware
    that these services are available to them, who aren't familiar
    with how to apply to them. We really rely on word of mouth
    pretty extensively.
        Considering that a lot of the students who were present in
    Lower Manhattan during the cleanup were not actually residents
    of the neighborhood--Stuyvesant has 3,000 students, and most of
    them do not live in Lower Manhattan. There is a similarly large
    high school who also doesn't serve a resident population a
    couple blocks away. There are a lot of specialized schools in
    that area.
        A lot of people's parents didn't live in the area, they
    weren't even informed about these risks, they weren't informed
    about these services. So, we are still doing the work of
    reaching out to them now.
        Mr. Raskin. One final question. This is not a problem that
    affects only the people in New York. There are people who have
    left New York for other parts of the country. Also, we weren't
    just hit in New York. We were hit down here in our area, at the
    Pentagon. We were hit in Pennsylvania.
        Mr. Stewart, let me come to you, since I know you have been
    such a zealous advocate for the people in the room. How do we
    get all of America to understand this is a national problem,
    this doesn't affect just one isolated community geographically?
        Mr. Stewart. I am pretty sure all of America does
    understand that. I think our problem has been with the part of
    America that represents America. Our problem has been with the
    Congress and not with the American people. It is not like the
    support for this community isn't out there. Our problem has
    been that there are oftentimes just a lot of excuses.
        Look, it takes an incredible amount of effort from these
    men and women to come down here. I have been at this for 10
    years with them. John Feal has been at it for, I don't know, 14
    years. They are down here hundreds of times, spending thousands
    of hours. It is not hard to convince the American people that
    this is a no-brainer and a worthy cause. Our problem has been
    in these chambers.
        I am sorry, it is not meant as an attack on the grand
    institution of democracy. It is meant as a dumbfounded shrug
    of: I can't understand why this has been so hard and why every
    time we take one step forward something gets withheld.
        We have been to too many funerals, hospitals, and hospices.
    It is going to keep going and I think we are just at the end of
    the rope.
        Mr. Raskin. Thank you for your advocacy.
        Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
        I excuse myself only to go to the floor of the House to
    introduce legislation.
        Thank you.
        Chairman Nadler. I thank the gentleman.
        The gentlelady from Pennsylvania, Ms. Scanlon.
        Ms. Scanlon. Okay. Before I begin, I want to say thank you
    to all the witnesses. Thank you for being here. Thank you for
    sharing your stories.
        I also want to say that I am sorry, not just for the loss
    and the grief that you have endured, and those are obviously
    profound, but I am sorry that you have to be here again to
    plead your case to reauthorize the Victim Compensation Fund, a
    decision that, as Mr. Stewart says, should be a no-brainer.
        This cause is close to my heart. I have followed it over
    the years, for a couple reasons. My father-in-law, Red Stewart,
    was a volunteer firefighter in New Jersey for over 50 years. My
    brother-in-law is a medic and a lieutenant in a Rhode Island
    fire department. I have several other relatives who are sworn
    police officers.
        While I am not a New Yorker, as a resident of southeastern
    Pennsylvania when the terrorist acts on 9/11 occurred, it felt
    a little bit like we were in the eye of a hurricane, because
    things were unfolding to the north of us in New York, to the
    south of us in DC, and to the west of us in Shanksville.
    Friends, neighbors, and relatives were impacted, whether
    because they were at one of those sites or because they lost
    loved ones.
        The shock and horror of those events were really surpassed
    by the bravery, grace, and humanity of the first responders--
    many of whom who are here, some of whom we lost--and everyday
    Americans as they responded to that tragedy.
        So it is that humanity that demands that Congress address
    this issue once and for all. That is why I am a proud cosponsor
    of the bill. As a new Member of Congress, one who ran because
    of anger over why things that seemed so obvious aren't getting
    done, I hear you. I look forward to swift passage of permanent
    reauthorization of this bill.
        Just a couple quick questions.
        Lieutenant O'Connell, you have already received your award
    from the VCF. Why are you here to testify today about this?
        Mr. O'Connell. I am here because I did receive my award and
    I have seen people fall sick and die right in front of me that
    haven't.
        I believe we lost about 20-something people last month,
    that their families--we have to sit there in front of them,
    somebody who actually has a wife and three children at home,
    knowing that they are taken care of. I am looking at somebody
    else's wife and children, and they don't know where their
    future lies. That is why I am here.
        Ms. Scanlon. That is the common humanity that says we
    should pass this. Thank you.
        I yield back.
        Chairman Nadler. I thank the gentlelady.
        The other gentlelady from Pennsylvania, Ms. Dean.
        Ms. Dean. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        I am pleased to be here today, as heartbreaking as the
    stories are. Please understand that I, too, am a new Member of
    Congress. I, too, am baffled that we are even having this
    conversation or that we have forced you to come here and share
    your heartbreak, some of you not well, struggling for your own
    health.
        So don't misinterpret, if you see people coming in and out
    of here. Some of us have other hearings. We are just trying to
    balance and do the work of both. Do not misinterpret that we do
    not care. We care. We think this is a grievous wrong, that you
    have to come and ask for reauthorization. It is an absolute
    insane, grievous wrong, and we get it. This new majority, I
    believe, will take action.
        I wanted to start with Ms. Henry.
        I think you are joined by your children behind you. I see
    the heartbreak in them, in the pictures they carry. I have to
    tell you, I was so touched by the way you talked about your
    husband and how proud he was of his work.
        Ms. Henry. Thank you.
        Ms. Dean. Isn't that what it is all about?
        Ms. Henry. That is what it is all about.
        Ms. Dean. Proud American work, cleaning trucks. You said
    maybe a simple task, but not so simple at all.
        Ms. Henry. No.
        Ms. Dean. He gave of himself, all of himself.
        Can you tell us how your family will be impacted if you
    should receive only a 30 percent award for his loss?
        Ms. Henry. Well, my son just turned 18 after his father
    passed away. He was not there to see his 18th birthday. College
    right now to be paid for him. We have other bills, our mortgage
    has to be paid, and other things. He was the breadwinner for
    the family. Right now, I have to stand in that position, where
    whatever he was coming home with, now we do not have it. With
    the little I am making; I have to be careful how I spend it now
    and make ends meet for our family.
        Ms. Dean. Yes. I keep thinking of what the Special Master
    has to go through to try to slice this up and try to be as
    equitable as possible. It should not be that way at all.
        Ms. Henry. Thank you. Thank you.
        Ms. Dean. Again, thank you for your family.
        Ms. Henry. Thank you.
        Ms. Dean. Ms. Nordstrom, I think your testimony is
    particularly compelling. Can you describe more about what
    notices you were given, even as young students, or your parents
    were given, or your teachers were given about the status of the
    health in your school?
        Ms. Nordstrom. Once we were already back at the school, we
    received a number of cryptic warnings. We started to get notes
    home that said don't drink out of the water fountain, and we
    were suddenly not allowed to leave the building for lunch,
    which was a privilege that we had enjoyed before that. For some
    reason, it was supposed to be okay that we walked to and from
    the subway in that same air, but apparently eating lunch was
    not going to be safe.
        As soon as we were back, a sort of contentious discussion
    broke out about whether we should be there or not. But, we
    didn't hear from any agency in that discussion. That was
    obviously a discussion that was happening between government
    officials, parents, and teachers at the school.
        So we sort of witnessed a lot of information come out late
    in the game. After the parents' Administration started to
    investigate things, that is, the parents Administration is who
    discovered that the air quality at the barge was as bad as the
    air at Ground Zero on many days. It was the parents association
    that discovered that the carpeting and upholstery in our
    auditorium was contaminated. It was the parents association
    that pushed the board of education to finally replace the
    filters in our ventilation system. That that was supposed to be
    done before we went back and did not get done. All of that took
    months to unfold.
        So, by the end of the year, it was pretty clear that we
    should have never been there. We never really received that
    information at a point where we could have acted on it.
    Certainly, if the government officials charged with our care
    had been honest about the situation, I think it would been
    appropriate to remove us from the premises.
        No decision like that ever got made. Instead, you would
    just see small steps, where they were going to hose down the
    debris, and then, they were going to replace the carpeting in
    the theater but not the seats. Small steps like that got made,
    but nothing substantial until at the end of the year, looked
    back and realized, oh, God, we shouldn't have been here.
        Ms. Dean. It sounds like malpractice to me, that you would
    have been allowed to be educated there.
        Then, Mr. Alvarez--I wish I could talk to all of you. My
    time is limited.
        Mr. Alvarez, I just wanted to offer you my thoughts,
    prayers. The strength that you show, it is extraordinary. You
    represent this audience filled with first responders and
    volunteers.
        I was impressed by you saying you didn't want anything for
    yourselves, you just wanted to do the work and help others.
        Mr. Alvarez. Yes.
        Ms. Dean. I guess, can you just tell me, other than the
    obvious, provide full funding, permanent funding, what else
    would you like us to know?
        Mr. Alvarez. Well, I have been lucky because I received my
    VCF payment. With my New York City Police Department disability
    check, I am doing okay. There are others out there who aren't
    doing okay, who don't have a disability, who count on that
    money to pay their bills. It is tough on them. It is really
    tough on them.
        Ms. Dean. I will just close with saying, may we be guided
    by your selflessness.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
        Chairman Nadler. Thank you.
        The gentlelady from Texas, Ms. Jackson Lee.
        Ms. Jackson Lee. I thank the gentleman who just came into
    the room.
        Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and to Mr. Cohen. Thank
    you to the Ranking Member.
        I was here on 9/11. I am reminded of the immediate work of
    Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney and Peter King. My
    recollection is that I stood with them in the first
    introduction, along with their Senators.
        I was also here on the day of the incident. Frankly, in the
    United States Capitol, no one knew what was going on. All we
    heard was screaming and banging on the door, you needed to get
    out. What a small experience compared to those of you in this
    room.
        As we fled as Members out of the Capitol, no one had any
    information. No BlackBerrys existed. Flip phones did not work.
    As we escaped, shoes falling off, we could see the billowing
    smoke from the Pentagon. A plane had hit.
        Rumors abounded. It was going to hit the White House, the
    State Department, and the United States Capitol. Certainly, in
    that instance, the first responders that we had, the Capitol
    Police, were trying to shuttle Members and leadership.
        Then the stories began to come. Even here in Washington,
    you wondered where your staff were, whether the buildings were
    going ready to be hit.
        If anyone can self-contain those experiences, just a slight
    memory, there should be nothing more but clean sailing of this
    legislation out of the House.
        My belief, make it a suspension. What does that mean? It
    goes to the floor and you pass it immediately. Then it goes to
    the Senate, and there is no procedural tomfoolery. You pass it.
    They can pass it on unanimous consent. Then it goes to the
    President of the United States, and all he has to do is sign
    that bill to give life to people who are in need. I don't see
    why that cannot be our process.
        As a Member of the United States Congress during that time,
    I desired greatly, in the midst, to get to Ground Zero. The
    time that I went, flights were not active and we took the
    train.
        When we actually got on the ground--I would never make the
    point that I was there during rescue. I was there during
    recovery. During that time, I watched with my own eyes men go
    in and out and in and out, finding remains, finding loved ones,
    finding their fellow comrades. I think you know I was there.
    You blew a whistle, and they would come with the gurney. They
    would stand in silence. They would take those remains. As they
    did so, you could still see in pockets the smoke and debris.
        I only want to say in this instance that I see no reason
    for us to stop on this dime. We need to move.
        Let me ask the Special Master, in the short time that I
    have, in the claims that you have had and the overwhelming that
    you have seen, can you tell me whether there is any tomfoolery
    with those who have come to apply? Should we be concerned about
    the need? Should we question the lieutenant or the FBI director
    or the mother and wife that is grieving? Should we question any
    of those? Should we look to Mr. Alvarez and be concerned about
    anything that he is going through that is not real? Are you
    facing the devastation of having to say ``no'' to people who
    are in need?
        Special Master?
        Ms. Bhattacharyya. Thank you, Congresswoman.
        The VCF, under the Zadroga Act, has not documented any
    instance of fraud in a paid claim.
        We have very robust standards and procedures in place.
    Obviously, as a component of the Justice Department, we take
    fraud very seriously. We work very closely with our inspector
    general's office to investigate any suspicion of fraud. And we
    have numerous internal procedures in place, including
    independent data verification with Federal, State, and local
    entities, to provide independent, third-party verification of
    the data that we receive.
        We have never documented any instance of fraud in a paid
    claim.
        Ms. Jackson Lee. I am an original cosponsor of this bill. I
    want to thank the proponents, as I said. I think that is
    important to put on the record.
        Jon Stewart, thank you. I have watched you over the
    decades.
        All I should suggest: Pass the bill. Pass it out of the
    Senate. Give the money. Never let these people look one moment
    to see that they are not great Americans and patriots. They
    deserve to be honored. Let's do it now.
        I yield back.
        [Applause.]
        Chairman Nadler. I thank the gentlelady.
        The gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Cline.
        Mr. Cline. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
    championing this legislation.
        I want to thank all our witnesses for being here, for
    everyone in the audience who is here to advocate for this
    legislation. It is an important bill.
        I see some familiar faces in the audience who came to visit
    me about a month ago to talk about this bill, to educate me, as
    they have been educating all Members, about the importance of
    continuing this important fund and providing for these heroes
    who are here and home and the families of those who served
    their country not just on September 11 but in the days, weeks,
    months, years following that fateful day.
        I want to thank the gentlelady for her comments. Because I
    recall that day well because I, too, was in this building, as a
    staffer. We weren't rushed to a safe room by the Capitol
    Police, as some of the Members were. We were given guidance to
    get your staff out. I was a chief of staff, and we were told,
    ``Get them out.''
        So, however we needed to--walk, run--we evacuated, not
    knowing what was going on, but seeing the smoke coming from the
    Pentagon. There was talk of a bomb at the State Department.
    There was talk of more planes in the sky.
        We don't know where Flight 93 was headed, but we know it
    was headed in this direction. For the heroes who took action
    that day and said, ``let's roll,'' we are eternally grateful
    for their heroism.
        For those who, in the 18 years since, the tens of thousands
    of men and women, first responders, relief workers, local
    residents, whose testimony was so moving--and I read it last
    night, but to hear it in person--Ms. Henry, I know that was
    very hard for you to articulate just how important this bill is
    to you and your family, but it has definitely had an impact.
        It has an impact for my district as well. We have 29 from
    the Sixth District of Virginia who are on the list of having
    benefited from this fund.
        We have to make sure that not only every year on September
    11 that we never forget but every day we owe it to the men and
    women here, we owe it to the men and women who sacrificed on
    that day and in the weeks after to renew this fund.
        So, I appreciate all the hard work. Your education had an
    impact on me, not just because of my experiences on 9/11 but
    also in learning about your stories, learning about the stories
    of each and every first responder, each and every construction
    worker--Ms. Henry, your husband. That is why I am glad to be a
    cosponsor of the bill.
        Ms. Henry, you spoke of your husband's pride in his work,
    the job that he was doing. He knew he was a part of something
    bigger, of something that was a moment in our Nation's history
    that will never be forgotten. I know that he brought that home
    with him at the end of his day. Can you speak to that pride
    with which he did his job?
        Ms. Henry. When my husband was transferred over there, I
    don't think--we didn't have anything in our mind that he
    would--all this debris and all these things was out there, that
    we would get that. He went to work and he went to work with
    pride.
        I remember my son, Justin, being almost 2--almost 1 year
    old, and I remember he would sit in the back of the van. Every
    Saturday morning, we would drop him at work, and at about 2 or
    3 o'clock, we would go back and pick him up. On a Saturday, I
    don't work, so it was my pleasure to take him down there. He
    was happy to work there.
        I am telling you, I have the badge, that badge he had they
    gave him to enter that building. He never threw it away. He
    held on to that badge, and he said that is his memory. For
    anybody talk about 9/11, he has that to tell them, yes, I did
    work at 9/11. I wish I had that badge to show it to you right
    now. That is the badge we had, that is not a badge, a pass. He
    had to scan that and walk in. The pass that we have, that
    reminded us.
        My husband going through all his sickness, we never thought
    that it was 9/11 until we met Dr. Demopoulos from the North
    Shore Hospital, when they referred us to him. In talking to
    him, he said, what your husband had, did he work at 9/11? Then
    it came to my--my husband said no, because he didn't remember.
    But going back into his pile of papers and stuff, here comes
    the badge, his pass. And, like, oh, my God, he did work there.
        Then we brought that--and that is how we spoke to Matt.
    Matt have us right here. I am thankful, he was the first to
    help us. Because my kids, they miss their dad so much. His only
    daughter, we don't know if she is going to walk down the aisle
    one day, what am I going to do? Maybe Justin or Kendall, his
    oldest son--Kendall is not here with us--will have to step in
    for their father, step in as a father.
        My family, who is stepping in as father--this morning, we
    woke up. We drive up last night. All we could talk about was if
    he was there. He is our navigator. We don't need a navigator.
    Anywhere we go, he knows. ``Make a left, make a right,'' and we
    would be right there. We went to Canada, we went to Georgia for
    the first time, and we were like, ``We don't know where we
    are.'' And he said, ``Don't worry. Make a left. Make a right.''
    There is a circle in Georgia, we keep going, and he tell me,
    ``When you go in a circle, take the first right, take the first
    left.'' And that is what it is.
        Sightseeing on a Saturday morning, he would say, ``Wake up,
    wake up. Let's go out.'' ``Where are we going to?'' ``Anywhere.
    Just jump in the car.'' We would just leave. That is how we
    discovered Pennsylvania. That is how we went to different
    places. We miss that. Right now, we want to go out, but he is
    so much in our memory.
        Driving up last night was not an easy task. It was not
    easy. I am so happy that we have Justin--Justin just got his
    driver's license. He was the one who showed him some of the
    shortcuts. Although, one day he did it, he tell Justin,
    ``Follow the police car.'' And as Justin was, ``Oh,'' Justin
    realized, I am following the police car and I am going to
    somewhere. Justin checking [inaudible], all laughing. You don't
    have a memory anymore. You making Justin follow the car going
    to the wrong direction, and we had a good laugh at it.
        So, coming up last night, Justin is driving, and we were
    just thinking, if Daddy was there, he would tell you, make a
    left, overtake this car, take this next--and the police won't
    catch you. He would say, no, Dad, he would tell me to the stop,
    the police are down there.
        We really miss him. I thought my husband did enjoy working
    at Ground Zero. That was his pride. He told everybody, I did
    work at Ground Zero, I know what it is like.
        So, we really, really, really, really, miss him.
        Mr. Cline. Thank you very much.
        Ms. Henry. Thank you.
        Mr. Cline. I hope that we can pass this bill.
        I appreciate everyone for their testimony today. I am sorry
    I wasn't here for each and every one of your testimony. I have
    another hearing in Education and Labor, and so we are back and
    forth. To each and every one of you who was here, I appreciate
    your testimony and all of the work you have done.
        Let's pass this bill.
        Thank you.
        Chairman Nadler. I recognize the gentlelady from Texas for
    a unanimous consent request.
        Ms. Jackson Lee. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
        First, these are all good people, and I think they are all
    going to be committed to you.
        I wanted to ask unanimous consent to put in the record an
    article that said, ``Officials Demand Permanent Funding for 9/
    11 Victims Compensation to Stem `Escalating Crisis.' ''
        I think we hear your cry and we are going to listen.
        I ask unanimous consent to place it in the record.
        Chairman Nadler. Without objection, the document will be
    placed in the record.
        [The information follows:]

                         MS. JACKSON LEE FOR THE RECORD

    =======================================================================

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Nadler. This concludes today's hearing.
        I want to remind people that tomorrow in this room we will
    have a full Committee meeting for the purpose of marking up and
    reporting to the House floor this bill tomorrow. We will move
    the bill to the floor tomorrow. We will get this done as
    quickly as possible. I do think we will get it done.
        I want to thank our witnesses. I want to thank all the
    first responders and others for attending and for all the work
    that you have done over the years and for your sacrifices.
        Without objection, all Members will have 5 legislative days
    to submit additional written questions for the witnesses or
    additional materials for the record.
        Chairman Nadler. Without objection, the hearing is
    adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 12:31 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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