[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 109 (Tuesday, September 14, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                VICTIMS COMPENSATION FUND EXTENSION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 14, 2004

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, in the immediate aftermath of the 
September 11th terrorist attacks the Congress created the Victims 
Compensation Fund (VCF) to provide compensation for victims of 9/11. 
This fund provided aid to the families of 9/11 victims and to 
individuals who suffered personal injury. Among other things, aid from 
the fund pays for medical expenses and lost wages. In return for 
accepting these funds, recipients relinquished rights to any future 
litigation. The fund had a deadline for applicants of December 22, 
2003.
  At the deadline, close to 100% of the families who lost a loved one 
had filed with the fund, but many individuals who were injured as a 
direct result of 9/11 had not. After the filing, many of the injured 
were denied benefits, despite a clear need.
  The main reasons for not filing applications included people who did 
not know they were eligible as well as others whose injuries were late-
onset. There are literally hundred of individuals who are now just 
developing career-ending injuries--such as pulmonary and respiratory 
ailments--but are not eligible to receive assistance because they 
developed their symptoms after the deadline.
  Largely as a result of the VCF's restrictions on applicants, 1,755 of 
the 4,430 personal injury claims considered were denied. While there 
was some leeway, the rules required workers to have arrived at Ground 
Zero within 96 hours of the attack and would have needed to seek 
medical treatment within 72 hours. This is reasonable for rescue 
workers who suffered immediate injuries, but leaves no recourse for 
individuals with late-onset injuries or who arrived after September 15, 
2001 to assist in the recovery effort and are now suffering from 
injuries.
  In order to care for the individuals who are now just developing 
physical injuries and to provide an opportunity for injured individuals 
who did not know they were eligible, I am introducing the Victims 
Compensation Fund Extension Act.
  This bill would: Amend eligibility rules so that responders to the 9/
11 attacks who arrived later than the first 96 hours could be eligible 
if they experienced illness or injury from their work at the site. 
Amend eligibility rules so that those who did not seek immediate 
medical verification for their illness or injury from the disaster, but 
who have since obtained medical evidence, would be eligible. Extend the 
deadline for applications to allow those with either late-onset illness 
from the disaster or those who were never informed of their eligibility 
for the Victim Compensation Fund to consider applying.

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