[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11905-11911]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       DUST AND TOXINS FROM 9/11

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Sutton). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 18, 2007, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Maloney) is recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, today on the House floor, we 
passed a very important bill to reauthorize the Department of Homeland 
Security. Tonight, we must take time to remember the horrific event 
that made our Nation realize that we needed a Department of Homeland 
Security to begin with, the attacks of September 11, 2001.
  We will never forget that fateful day and the thousands of people who 
lost their lives, and now we know that thousands more lost their 
health.
  We must not forget the firefighters, police officers, EMTs and other 
first responders who bravely rushed to save the lives of others, even 
as everyone else was running in the opposite direction.
  Within hours of the collapse of the World Trade Center, those first 
responders labored alongside hard hats and average New Yorkers without 
regard for their own health or safety. They spent countless hours 
working the pit, sifting through the rubble, hoping against hope that 
they would be able to rescue someone trapped deep below.
  Unfortunately, as the days went on and the mission turned from a 
rescue-and-recovery mission to a cleanup site, these brave men and 
women stayed. While they labored, most were not given the proper 
respiratory equipment, and all were given inaccurate information about 
the quality of the air they were breathing. They were told that the 
``air was safe to breathe.'' They were told that it was not a health 
hazard to be there.
  Let us take a closer look: This air, the air enveloped by this 
massive toxic dust cloud, they said was safe to breathe. Unfortunately, 
we now know better. We know more about what was in that cloud, a 
poisonous cocktail of thousands of tons of coarse and fine particulate 
matter, pulverized cement and glass and other toxic pollutants.
  To the mix were added 24,000 gallons of burning jet fuel and 
plastics, which created a dense plume of black smoke containing cancer-
causing volatile organic compounds, dioxins and hydrocarbons, a 
specific combination of toxins probably never seen before and hopefully 
that we will never see again.
  And all of this went into the mouths, throats and lungs of tens of 
thousands of workers while they tirelessly worked long shifts, not 
thinking first of their health but of serving this great Nation.
  Later in this hour, I am going to share with you the stories of the 
individual brave men and women who worked at ground zero, but now let 
me just share one about the dust.
  This is a story from Denise Bellingham of Long Island, New York. In 
her own words, as reported in the New York Daily News, she said, ``The 
air was indescribable,'' as you can see. ``You couldn't eat anything 
that wasn't covered with dust. We had paper masks, but they were no 
good. Condensation from breathing turned the mask into mud. It was 
worse to breathe with it on. We got respirators about a week into it, 
but they were not fit-tested. They just came in boxes, and we grabbed 
one that might fit.
  ``I worked more than 300 hours at ground zero. I considered it a 
thank you to America, a chance to do something for my country and for 
my fellow New Yorkers and for my co-workers who were buried in the 
rubble.
  ``We never expected anything to go wrong. Every day we were told the 
air was safe to breathe. Working down there as a team gave us healing. 
We could feel all the angels, all the people who had died there.''
  Again, that was one of the personal accounts of work at ground zero, 
as reported in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Daily News series on the 
Forgotten Heroes of 9/11.
  Now, well over 5 years after 9/11, we are seeing the potentially 
deadly effects on the thousands who worked around ground zero. This is 
in addition to the untold numbers of residents, area office workers and 
school children also exposed to the toxins of ground zero but have 
never received any medical monitoring or assistance from the Federal 
Government.
  We have numerous peer-reviewed, scientific studies linking people's 
sicknesses to the toxins of ground zero.
  Last year we learned from Mount Sinai, an important hospital in my 
district, and the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program that 70 
percent of 9/11 responders suffered respiratory problems and 60 percent 
are still sick as a direct result of their work at ground zero. Making 
matters worse, nearly 40 percent of those screened have no health 
insurance, and for those who do have insurance, work-related illnesses 
are most often not covered.
  We also learned from the fire department that the average New York 
City firefighter has lost 12 years of lung capacity following their 
service at ground zero, and many have been forced to retire or be 
reassigned due to their 9/11 illnesses.
  And just 2 days ago, a new report from the fire department and 
Einstein College of Medicine in New York clearly linked World Trade 
Center dust to a rare type of lung-scarring disease, sarcoidosis, which 
involves an inflammation that produces tiny lumps of cells in the 
lungs. In some cases, the illness gets progressively worse and can be 
fatal.
  Let there be no doubt. We now have scientific proof that the 9/11 
health crisis is real, and that it is truly a matter of life and death.

                              {time}  2130

  Tonight I want everyone listening to understand this. The 9/11 health 
crisis is not only a New York City problem. The attacks on 9/11 were 
attacks against our Nation, not just New York. The whole country was 
touched; and, in the aftermath, people from every State in the Nation 
were exposed to these toxins while they assisted in the massive rescue 
recovery and cleanup efforts. Whether you came from California, 
Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Alaska, you breathed in the 
same toxic air.
  Last month, Congressman Vito Fossella and I released a report showing 
that Americans from all 50 States were exposed to the aftermath of 9/11 
and have serious concerns about their health.
  This map shows how many people from each State enrolled in the World 
Trade Center Health Registry, which is a comprehensive health survey of 
those most heavily exposed to the toxins of Ground Zero. Those who 
enrolled answered a 30-minute telephone survey about where they were 
and what they did on 9/11, and they were asked to report the status of 
their health. This will allow health professionals to compare the 
health of those most exposed to the events of 9/11 with the health of 
the general population.
  Over 71,000 people who met the eligibility requirements of direct 
exposure decided to enroll in the registry. We know that there are an 
estimated 410,000 people who would have been eligible, meaning that 
410,000 people were likely directly exposed to the deadly toxins of 9/
11.
  Of the 71,000 people who were concerned enough about their health to 
enroll, over 8,000 live in New Jersey, over 1,200 live in California, 
another 1,200 live in Florida, 156 live in Arizona, 350 live in 
Georgia, 238 in Maryland, and 341 live in Texas. At least 28 people 
came from as far away as Hawaii.
  The list goes on and on, but the message of this map is clear: This 
is a national emergency, and it deserves a strong Federal response.
  Over 1,000 people are from Pennsylvania, including Ryan McCormick, 
who came to Ground Zero from Representative Dent's district in 
Pennsylvania. His father, David McCormick, sent me an e-mail explaining 
that Ryan was a paramedic for University Hospital in Newark, New 
Jersey, who came to the

[[Page 11906]]

aid of New York in our country in our time of need.
  In his 5 days at Ground Zero, he served in many capacities. A year 
and a half later, he came down with Hodgkin's Disease, a cancer of the 
lymphatic system. He has undergone a great deal of chemotherapy and 
radiation, but nothing has worked. We sincerely thank Ryan for his 
service to our country, and we pledge that we will not forget his 
service or his health needs.
  I also thank him for his hard work in getting the message out to 
country and Congress that we cannot forget the heroes of 9/11, and I am 
told that he is with us tonight in the gallery. We want to personally 
thank you for your service and your courage.
  With a problem of this scope, what we need right now is a plan from 
the current administration on how they intend to medically monitor 
everyone who was exposed to the deadly toxins at Ground Zero, and we 
need a plan to treat everyone who is sick. That is the least that we 
can do for these heroes and heroines.
  Along with my colleagues in New York and our entire delegation, I 
have been calling for a plan for years now. We don't have a plan yet, 
but we have made some important progress.
  After a long fight with the administration, in May, 2003, we were 
successful in securing $90 million for medical monitoring for 
responders.
  Then, with the leadership of Representative Shays, the Government 
Reform Committee started a series of important congressional hearings 
bringing this topic to light.
  Then, after the President actually rescinded, they took out of the 
budget $125 million meant for New York recovery efforts, the New York 
delegation fought to have the $125 million restored in October of 2005. 
Of that, $50 million was set aside for workers' compensation, and $75 
million was for medical monitoring and treatment. This was the first-
ever Federal funding for treatment of sick 9/11 responders.
  Unfortunately, then we had to fight just as hard to get that $75 
million out of the hands of the Department of Health and Human Services 
and to the doctors and patients that need to be monitored and treated.
  Finally, in late fall of this year, the $75 million was finally 
released to help the men and women who helped so many on 9/11.
  While we were fighting to get that funding released, we took a step 
closer to having a coordinated Federal response when the Director of 
the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. John 
Howard, was appointed at the request of the New York congressional 
delegation as the Federal coordinator for 9/11 health issues in 
February of 2006.
  Since his appointment, we have seen the release of the first clinical 
guidelines on the physical health effects many have suffered from the 
World Trade Center attacks and a draft of autopsy guidelines.
  We have also seen Assistant Secretary John Agwunobi appointed as 
leader of a task force on 9/11 health within the Department of Health 
and Human Services. While we were promised a plan from this new task 
force between February of this year, Congress has yet to see one. We 
still do not have a plan from the administration to medically monitor 
everyone exposed to those deadly toxins and treat those who are sick as 
a result of exposure in their hard work at Ground Zero.
  That is why, along with Congressman Fossella, I have introduced a 
resolution which calls on the administration to create a comprehensive 
long-term plan to medically monitor everyone exposed and treat those 
who have become sick.
  Along with many Members of Congress, I have also introduced the first 
comprehensive authorizing legislation to care for both the health and 
economic well-being of all those affected. Named after New York City 
Police Detective James Zadroga, one of the first 9/11 responders to 
have his death directly attributed to his exposure to the toxins of 
Ground Zero, this legislation combines and builds upon two pieces of 
legislation that we have previously introduced in the 108th and 109th 
Congress, the Remember 9/11 Health Act and the James Zadroga Act to 
reopen the Victims' Compensation Fund.
  H.R. 1638, the James Zadroga Act, the 9/11 Health and Compensation 
Act, has four main components. It provides, first, for medical 
monitoring and treatment; secondly, compensation; thirdly, research; 
and, fourthly, coordination.
  To provide medical monitoring and treatment, the James Zadroga Health 
and Compensation Act continues and expands the current programs at 
three Centers for Excellence dedicated to 9/11 health issues to all 
people exposed to the toxins of 9/11, including first responders, 
rescue, recovery and cleanup workers, area residents, office workers 
and students. It would ensure that everyone exposed is monitored, and 
everyone who is sick is treated.
  With regard to compensation, the legislation reopens the September 11 
Victims' Compensation Fund to provide individuals who have become sick 
with 9/11 compensation for their loss. We can't make a person whole by 
helping them with their health but not addressing their economic needs.
  For research, H.R. 1638 directs the Department of Health and Human 
Services to conduct or support diagnostic and treatment research for 
health conditions that are associated with the exposure to the 
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
  To ensure coordination, the bill establishes the 9/11 Health 
Emergency Coordinating Council for the purpose of discussing, examining 
and formulating recommendations to improve coordination between the 
Federal, State and local problems and getting those governments on all 
three levels to work together.
  Passing long-term comprehensive legislation like this, and securing 
funding in the meantime, has proven to be a long, hard fight. Those who 
are sick from 9/11 are fighting for their lives, and we cannot forget 
them.
  I stand here tonight to promise that I will not rest until we have a 
system in place that medically monitors everyone exposed to the deadly 
toxins and treats who is sick. On 9/11, we had many, many people rush 
to save the lives of others, and many worked for days to help others.
  One of my colleagues has a constituent who is suffering from his 
exposure. He has been treated with chemotherapy. He, I understand, is 
here in the gallery tonight, up here. We applaud him and thank him for 
his service. Our prayers, our thoughts, our hope, our work to pass this 
legislation is for you and for other workers like you who went to help 
others after the deadly attacks.
  I now yield to my good friend and colleague from the great State of 
Pennsylvania that had over 1,000 of their residents now registered in 
the official registry of those who worked at Ground Zero and whom we 
need to monitor for the next 20 or 30 years.
  Mr. DENT. I would like to thank the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. 
Maloney) for arranging this opportunity to come to the floor to raise 
awareness of the ongoing effects of 9/11.
  I am proud to say that so many from Pennsylvania answered the first 
call very, very quickly, among some of the first there after the New 
Yorkers, who helped deal with the aftermath of those horrible attacks.
  As we all know, September 11, 2001, was one of the darkest days in 
American history. Nearly 3,000 innocent people were killed in separate 
incidents in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. These attacks were 
intended to instill fear in our hearts and minds and to shake our 
American spirit.
  They did not have that desired effect. Instead, they unified a Nation 
and strengthened the resolve of the American people. I neglected to 
mention that one of my own relatives was in the North Tower and, 
thankfully, made it out. He was on the 91st floor, made it out. All of 
his colleagues did, too, but nobody above them did. So this issue has 
touched us all in many ways.
  September 11, and the long days that followed, bore witness to 
inspiring acts of heroism and self-sacrifice. As rescue and recovery 
efforts unfolded, we saw Americans reaching out to one another, united 
in a determination to make the country whole again.

[[Page 11907]]

  Whether it was neighbor helping neighbor or stranger helping 
stranger, Americans from across the country simply gave of themselves, 
and operating at the front lines of this effort were local first 
responders. I would like to take this opportunity to talk about one of 
those first responders, a selfless and heroic individual by the name of 
Ryan McCormick.
  Ryan, a native of Bethlehem Township in my district, has led a life 
of service that we should all try to emulate. An Eagle Scout of the 
Minsi Trails Council, Ryan committed himself to public service at a 
very young age. Whether he was volunteering at the Bethlehem Township 
Volunteer Fire Company, performing search and rescue operations with 
the Civil Air Patrol, or defending our Nation as an 8-year veteran of 
the United States Army Reserve, Ryan has always been concerned about 
the well-being of others.
  Taking the Boy Scout motto of ``Be Prepared'' to heart, Ryan was, 
indeed, prepared and acted without hesitation on that fateful Tuesday, 
Tuesday morning of September 11. Ryan was working as a paramedic in 
Newark, New Jersey, when his unit was dispatched to the terrorist 
attacks. Relying on his years of preparation and experience and firmly 
committed to helping others, Ryan worked tirelessly from September 11 
to September 13. The work was hard, dirty and dangerous and 
heartbreaking. But Ryan persisted. For him, duty came first.

                              {time}  2145

  But Ryan McCormick paid a terrible price for his determination and 
resolve. In late 2002, Ryan started to become sick. In the spring of 
2003, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the 
lymphatic system. He has undergone consistent treatment for over 4 
years, including a stem cell transplant. He is still fighting valiantly 
against his cancer and soon hopes to be well enough for another stem 
cell transplant.
  But Ryan is not alone. Many of the first responders who worked to 
ease the suffering of the innocent are now suffering life-threatening 
illnesses. Fortunately, Ryan, like the rest of his first responder 
colleagues, is a fighter. And I am proud to let you know that Ryan has 
joined us tonight and is seated in the Gallery.
  Ryan continues to battle this cancer while continuing his service to 
others. Ryan is the director of emergency management for New Jersey's 
largest health care system, serves as the Essex County emergency 
management deputy EMS coordinator and is a lieutenant for the Verona, 
New Jersey, rescue squad.
  In addition, Ryan has started a nonprofit corporation that raises 
money to buy iPods for cancer patients undergoing cancer treatment. 
This organization is named Project Turtle Pods, and more information 
about this endeavor can be found at www.projectturtlepods.com.
  Ryan, the House of Representatives welcomes you and thanks you for 
your courageous service on September 11th. You exemplify all that is 
great about the American spirit.
  As ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee 
on Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response, I am very well 
aware of the sacrifices our country's first responders make to ensure 
the safety of others. In turn, we in Congress must take on the 
responsibility of protecting those who sacrifice to protect us. That is 
why I have agreed to cosponsor Representative Maloney's bill, House 
Resolution 128, which urges the Department of Health and Human Services 
to prepare a long-term, comprehensive plan to medically monitor all 
individuals who were exposed to the toxins of Ground Zero.
  Of all the lessons we learned from the terrorist attacks of 9/11, 
there is one first and foremost that stands out: We must not forget 
those individuals who continue to suffer in the aftermath of these 
events. The spirit found in Ryan McCormick is fundamentally American. 
It is this can-do attitude that assures us that we as a Nation can rise 
to meet any challenge that we encounter. Let us follow the example that 
Ryan has set for us and help those who are suffering from afflictions 
precipitated by their involvement in the 9/11 rescue, recovery and 
cleanup efforts. The people who gave so much to us at that site deserve 
nothing less.
  Again, I want to thank the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Maloney) 
for tonight's opportunity to speak on this important issue and her 
commitment to our Nation's first responders. I want to thank her for 
her friendship and her leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his 
statement. I thank him for working so hard not only for Ryan McCormick, 
his constituent, but all the men and women who came from every State in 
this Nation, including Alaska and Hawaii, to work at Ground Zero and to 
try to help save lives and to try to clean up the debris that was 
there.
  As I mentioned earlier, the New York Daily News Editorial Board won 
the Pulitzer Prize for its groundbreaking series of editorials 
entitled, ``9/11, The Forgotten Victims.''
  Now, I would like to share with you an excerpt from this award-
winning series. It is called, ``Abandoned Heroes.''
  ``They cough. They wheeze. Their heads and faces pound with the 
pressure of swollen sinuses. They lose their breath with minor 
exertion. They suffer the suffocation of asthma and diseases that 
attack the very tissues of their lungs. They endure acid reflux, a 
painful indigestion that never goes away. They are haunted by the 
mental and emotional traumas of having witnessed horror. Many are too 
disabled to work, and some have died.''
  Like Ryan McCormick, who is with us tonight in the Gallery, there 
were many other heroes. Another hero was Christopher Hynes, and I would 
like to discuss him, from this award-winning series:
  ``For Christopher Hynes, life as a forgotten victim of 9/11 is a 
battle of breath. Five years ago, Hynes was a 30-year-old, healthy, 
nonsmoking New York City police officer. Then, in September and October 
2001, he was assigned to Ground Zero duty, spending more than 100 hours 
patrolling the area of the smoldering rubble of the Twin Towers. The 
air was thick with dust and smoky particles.
  ``Today, Hynes, married and the father of a 4-year-old son, has 
sarcoidosis, a disease that scars lung tissues, and asthma, a disease 
that inflames and obstructs the airways of the lungs. He coughs 
constantly and cannot exert himself without losing breath. He survives 
with the help of steroids and performs restricted duties for the police 
department.
  ```I will probably have this for the rest of my life,' he says.''
  We must not forget him. We must provide him with health care and 
monitoring and treatment for the rest of his life.
  Mr. Speaker, I now would like to recognize my good friend and 
colleague, Gerald Nadler, who represents the Ground Zero area and has 
worked tirelessly on this issue. I grant the gentleman 7 minutes.
  Mr. NADLER. I thank the gentlelady.
  Mr. Speaker, when the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 
2001, the towers sent up a plume of poisonous dust that blanketed Lower 
Manhattan, Brooklyn, and parts of Queens and into New Jersey. A toxic 
mixture of lead, dioxin, asbestos, mercury, benzene and other hazardous 
contaminants swirled around the site of the disaster and far afield as 
rescue workers labored furiously in the wreckage, many without adequate 
protective gear. Thousands of first responders inhaled this poisonous 
dust before it settled onto and into countless homes, shops and office 
buildings.
  Immediately after the collapse, and for the weeks after that, the 
Environmental Protection Agency had the responsibility of being the 
lead agency responsible for ensuring the safety of the hundreds and 
thousands of people who live and work and attend school in Lower 
Manhattan, Brooklyn and Jersey City, and of the first responders.

[[Page 11908]]

  Instead, the EPA and the Federal Government betrayed the people who 
live in New York and betrayed all the first responders, the police 
officers and the fire officers, and the volunteers from all over who 
came to help us clean up. It betrayed them in two ways.
  First, the EPA assured all that the environmental conditions in New 
York were not hazardous and that the health of those near the plume was 
not in danger. Former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman 
irresponsibly declared within a few days after 9/11 that the air was 
safe to breathe and the water was safe to drink, and EPA continued 
saying that when they had plenty of data to say it wasn't true. The EPA 
and the Federal Government lied, and because of these lies, people are 
sick and dying today. The air was not safe. There is no doubt the EPA 
initiated two separate cover-ups that go on to this day.
  For years, the Federal Government, the State government, the city 
government insisted that there was no evidence, no proof that people 
who were getting sick, that fire officers and police officers who had 
annual exams and had been healthy all the time and who suddenly could 
not breathe and could not work, this had nothing to do with the World 
Trade Center. You couldn't prove it was because they were poisoned by 
the atmosphere.
  It was only last September, in September 2006, 5 years after the 
World Trade Center collapsed, that this cover-up unraveled.
  A study released last September by Mount Sinai Hospital found that of 
the more than 9,000 first responders examined in that study, 70 percent 
suffered health problems related to their work at Ground Zero.
  The evidence continues to pile up. Yesterday, the New York Times 
reported a clear link between World Trade Center dust and life-
threatening disease. And yet, until very recently, the Health 
Department and the City of New York continued to deny that this was the 
case.
  The City of New York continues to contest every workers comp case 
filed because, obviously, these are all malingerers; nothing was true.
  The article in yesterday's Time cites reports by doctors from the 
fire department of New York and the Albert Einstein Medical College 
which again confirm what we have known, that all honest people have 
known for years: That we are facing a major health crisis as a result 
of September 11th. And we know that these conditions are very often 
long-lasting, life-lasting and that they go on and on.
  In the days and weeks after 9/11, New York City firefighters and 
police officers joined with workers and volunteers from all 50 States 
to aid in the colossal rescue and recovery effort. But more than 5 
years later, the Federal Government has not begun to do its part.
  To this day, there has been no comprehensive program by the Federal 
Government to monitor, as Mrs. Maloney said, to monitor the health of 
all the victims, the firefighters, the cleanup workers. There has been 
no provision of medical services.
  The President finally, in this year's budget that we are now 
debating, proposes supplying $25 million. And yet we know that the cost 
of caring for these people will be probably in the neighborhood of $300 
million per year for the indefinite future.
  For every day that goes by, more and more people become sick and are 
diagnosed with illnesses that their doctors attribute to the 
contamination of the World Trade Center. That is why a number of pieces 
of legislation have been introduced. For instance, Senators Clinton, 
Menendez, Schumer and Kennedy, and in this House, Congressman Towns, 
Engel, Weiner, and I have introduced the 9/11 Heroes Health Improvement 
Act of 2007, which would provide more than $1.9 billion in Federal 
funding for medical and mental health screening, testing, monitoring 
and treatment grants for institutions that provide care to those whose 
health was affected in the 9/11 attacks, for the next 6 years, this 
would cover.
  And that is just the first cover-up. The second cover-up is that we 
know that the World Trade Center contamination settled in Lower 
Manhattan, in Brooklyn, in Queens, probably in Jersey City, in many 
neighborhoods, buildings and onto streets. Nature cleans up the outdoor 
air, but it doesn't clean up the indoor air. The rain washes away dust 
in the outdoors; the wind blows it away. But nothing removes the 
indoors. People were told, don't worry, it is safe to move back to 
Lower Manhattan. In high school, students were told to go back after a 
week. And yet, we know that the indoor contamination was not dealt with 
properly. We know that, unless properly cleaned up, professionally 
cleaned up, indoor spaces are still contaminated; that even if you went 
in, as the New York City Department of Health urged, and said, ``If you 
see World Trade Center dust in your apartment, clean it up with a wet 
mop and a wet rag,'' and the EPA echoed this advice. This, too, was a 
betrayal, because not only is that advice illegal because we know that 
much of that dust had asbestos in it, and it is illegal to remove 
asbestos-laden material, to move it, to touch it, to deal with it 
unless you are properly licensed to, certified to do so and wearing 
equipment. But EPA and the City of New York Health Department told 
people to remove it with a wet mop and a wet rag.
  We also know that, if you did that, besides being illegal, you 
probably inhaled some of it. And the very often immigrant workers hired 
by fly-by-night firms, who, not professionally, did this probably 
inhaled a lot of it. And we also know that, if you did it, you didn't 
thoroughly do it; that the dust settled into the porous wood surfaces 
and into the carpets and the drapes and behind the refrigerator and 
into the HVAC systems. And where the toddler crawls on the rug today 
and loosens that dust into the air, that toddler is being poisoned 
today. We probably have thousands or tens of thousands of people all 
over Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens and Jersey City who are being 
poisoned today and who we will see come down with asbestosis and 
mesothelioma and lung cancer 15 years from now, because it has never 
been properly cleaned up because the EPA continues to deny its 
responsibility.
  The EPA ombudsman's office was called in at my request in February 
and March of 2002, and held hearings to see what could be done about 
this. What happened? The EPA abolished the ombudsman's office.
  The EPA set up, at Senator Clinton's request, a scientific advisory 
body to look into this. They started saying, ``Hey, wait a minute. We 
have got a major problem here.'' What happened? They were disbanded by 
the EPA.
  The EPA inspector general's office looked into this, and came out 
with a report in August of 2003, saying that thousands of people are 
endangered by this; that what we have to do is randomly inspect indoor 
spaces, apartments and work spaces in concentric circles going out from 
the World Trade Center so that we can find out where the contamination 
still exists, maybe 3 blocks in one direction, maybe 3 miles in another 
direction. But, wherever it is, map it, delineate it, and wherever it 
is, go in on a building-by-building basis, clean it up so that people 
are not continually poisoned indefinitely.

                              {time}  2200

  Clean it up, so that people are not continually poisoned 
indefinitely. What happened to that report? It was ignored by the EPA, 
and the people in the Inspector General's Office are no longer there.
  And again, at Senator Clinton's insistence and because Carolyn 
Maloney and I and others insisted, the EPA set up another scientific 
advisory body in 2005. What happened? They started saying, you know, 
the Inspector General is right and what the EPA has done is inadequate. 
What happened? They were disbanded before they could make official 
recommendations.
  To this day, we know that we are poisoning large numbers of people 
continually and piling up unnecessary cases of fatal diseases that will 
come out in 10 and 15 years because the Federal

[[Page 11909]]

Government and the city government of New York has ignored this problem 
and covered it up.
  So, in summary, we have two separate cover-ups, one of which 
unraveled only within the last year. We are trying to deal with it. We 
still don't have the funds to deal with it. The Federal Government, the 
Bush administration has ignored it, basically. They have not come out 
with proper recommendations.
  Some of us, Congresswoman Maloney, Congressman Shays, myself, Senator 
Clinton, have made legislative proposals for long-term care and 
monitoring of the medical conditions caused that will be with us for 
the next 50 years. We don't have administration support. We haven't 
enacted that legislation. We must.
  But at least, because that cover-up unraveled last year, we're 
talking about it. But that second cover-up, they're still denying it. 
The City of New York is still denying it. The Federal Government is 
still denying it. And until they admit it, until we do the proper 
investigation in the way that the Inspector General recommended and 
look at all the areas and find out where the contamination is and go in 
and clean it up, and it may cost a couple of billion dollars to do 
that, but until we do that we will continue poisoning people, we will 
continue making sure that 10 and 15 and 20 years from now we will have 
thousands perhaps of unnecessary cases of fatal diseases.
  So I say to you, Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Maloney for calling this 
special order tonight. But I say to you, we must enact a legislation 
such as Carolyn has talked about, such as I have talked about, such as 
others have, to put into place systematic means of monitoring and 
providing medical services for the victims, the first responders. But 
we must also make sure that the EPA and the Federal Government step up 
to the plate, unravel that second cover-up, peel it away, see what the 
problem is, inspect the areas, find out where the contamination still 
is. And where it still is, go in and on a building by building basis 
clean it up so that we can know that people can live and work in areas 
without being poisoned and without coming down with additional 
diseases.
  Without doing this, we are adding to the work of the terrorists. The 
Federal and city governments are becoming complicit in adding to the 
victims. It was bad enough the terrorists cost us 3,000 dead that day. 
The Federal and city government should not be adding to the victims as 
they still are.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I thank the gentleman for his hard work and 
for his statement and for being here tonight. I know that he has many 
constituents such as Congressman Dent, and we thank Ryan McCormick for 
being with us in the Chamber tonight.
  I want to talk about another victim of 9/11, Winston Lodge. He was 
written about in ``The Making of a Health Disaster'' which was 
originally published July 25, 2006; and I quote from the Daily News.
  ``For Winston Lodge, life as a forgotten victim of 9/11 is the 
torment of chronically inflamed and bleeding sinuses.
  ``5 years ago, Lodge was a 44-year old iron worker who helped build 
things. Then, called on to help dismantle the pile, he pitched in at 
Ground Zero for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for a month.
  ``Today, Lodge's nose runs constantly and often bleeds. He suffers 
headaches from sinus pressure, has shortness of breath from chronic 
bronchitis, and has acid reflux, a painful heartburn. He has undergone 
surgery to relieve sinus difficulties and is waiting for a second 
operation.
  ``Since 2004, Lodge, a divorced father of four, has not been able to 
work; and he says, and I quote, ``I am sick to my bones, and I need 
help.''
  A number of people have worked very hard on this and held hearings to 
focus on this issue, including Mrs. Clinton and, very recently, Ed 
Towns had one in Brooklyn, New York, about the health impacts on his 
constituents in Brooklyn. He held another one here in Washington.
  But the first person to call a series of hearings on the health 
impacts of 9/11 was my colleague from Connecticut, Christopher Shays. 
Under the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, he held hearings 
in New York, many here in Washington, that helped focus the light on 
the need for everyone to be monitored who was exposed to those deadly 
toxins and everyone who is sick to be treated. We thank you for holding 
those hearings and for joining us tonight in this special order. Thank 
you, Mr. Shays.
  Mr. SHAYS. Thank you, Representative Maloney; and it is really a 
privilege to be with you and both Jerry Nadler. I know that both of you 
have been at the forefront of this issue and clearly have been 
championing it, both of you.
  But I particularly want to thank Mrs. Maloney. Because you were the 
one who, serving on my subcommittee at the time, said we needed to get 
at this issue. And you're the reason why we ended up having these 
hearings.
  During the last 2 years, as chairman of the Subcommittee on National 
Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, we held four 
oversight hearings on the federally funded medical monitoring and 
registry programs that were established following the September 11 
terrorist attacks. And you, obviously, and Mr. Nadler, were major 
participants. The witnesses' testimony at the subcommittee clearly 
demonstrated the significant health challenges faced by the Ground Zero 
responders, as well as the need for their continued health monitoring.
  You know, nearly 6 years after the cataclysmic attacks on the World 
Trade Centers, shock waves still emanate from Ground Zero. Diverse and 
delayed health problems continue to emerge in those exposed to the 
contaminants and psychological stressors unleashed on September 11, 
2001.
  Firefighters, police, emergency medical personnel, transit workers, 
construction crews and other first responders, as well as volunteers, 
came to Ground Zero knowing there would be risks but confident their 
community would sustain them. These individuals did not just go to work 
on that day. They went to war.
  However, as we know, Federal, State and local health support has not 
provided the care and comfort they need and rightfully deserve.
  After the 1991 war in the Persian Gulf, veterans suffering a variety 
of unfamiliar syndromes faced daunting official resistance to evidence 
linking multiple low-level toxic exposure to subsequent chronic ill 
health. In part due to our subcommittee, long-term registrants were 
improved and an aggressive research agenda was pursued and sick 
veterans now have some of the benefits, in law, of presumption that 
wartime exposures cause certain illnesses.
  When the front line is not Baghdad but now lower Manhattan, 
occupational medicine and public health practitioners still have much 
to learn from that distant Middle East battlefield. Proper diagnosis, 
effective treatment and fair compensation for the delayed casualties of 
toxic attacks require vigilance, persistence and a willingness to admit 
what we do not yet know and might never know about toxic synergies and 
syndromes. Health surveillance has to be focused and sustained and new 
treatment approaches have to be tried to restore damaged lives before 
it is too late. And I fear it really is becoming almost too late.
  Still today, it appears the public health approach to lingering 
environmental hazards remains unfocused and halting. The unquestionable 
need for long-term monitoring has been met with only short-term 
commitments. Screening and monitoring results have not been translated 
into timely protocols that could be used by a broader range of treating 
physicians. Valuable data sets compiled by competing programs may 
atrophy as money and vigilance wane.
  Both the executive and legislative branches of our Federal Government 
are failing those who were on the front lines nearly 6 years ago. Many 
responders, workers, residents and schoolchildren are getting sick from 
the toxins that they were exposed to in the

[[Page 11910]]

area around Ground Zero. We are not providing those affected with 
satisfactory treatments and care.
  We need to know how many people are sick or how many become sick or 
how they may become sick and if they are receiving proper medical care. 
We also need to talk to the doctors who are treating them to determine 
if they are aware of how best to care for these victims.
  I just have two more points I want to make. We have spent billions of 
dollars improving our method to defend the United States against 
another terrorist attack, and we are certainly safer than we were in 
2001. But we are still not completely safe. I believe we need to use 
oversight hearings to help prepare for a similar attack in another 
city, to determine how large an area the government should be 
monitoring for health effects, and what some of these of the best 
practices are to minimize the impact and treat future victims in these 
catastrophic situations.
  It is our duty to care for the victims who continue to live with 
illnesses caused by the events of that fateful day, to monitor, track 
and treat their symptoms and to ensure they have knowledge of and 
access to services available to them. Congress and the administration 
also have a duty to make sure we as a Nation have learned from their 
experiences so we can effectively and expeditiously respond to a 
similar horrendous event in the future, and I think that's what both of 
you are trying to do and trying to highlight.
  My constituents don't live in New York City. But I had a number who 
came and spent every day at Ground Zero, and I just know what they're 
dealing with. And we know so many others. There are thousands of others 
of individuals, and they need our attention.
  I thank our colleague, and I hope we have a chance to have a little 
bit of a dialogue about this.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Well, I thank my colleague and good friend 
from Connecticut; and I thank him particularly for the public hearings 
that really focused the need and, I think, helped us achieve partial 
funding, the $25 million that we got in the President's budget. As we 
know, Jerry and the New York delegation, along with Senators Clinton 
and Schumer, we have worked very hard to have $50 million added to the 
supplemental budget for the health needs of the 9/11 workers. This has 
been a delegation-wide priority on both sides of the aisle led by our 
two Senators and by the entire delegation.
  I remember your hearings very vividly, the men and woman who came and 
testified who were sick. They came with their pills. They came with 
their coughs. Some could hardly breathe. They could hardly talk.
  I want to share another story with my colleagues of Jeffrey Endean, 
who was highlighted in the Daily News articles as life as a forgotten 
victim of 9/11. And he says, 5 years ago, he was a 51-year old Division 
Commander for Morris County New Jersey's Sheriff Office. He was 
healthy, able to run several miles.
  Then he was pressed into Ground Zero service because he had 
experience helping first responders cope at horrific scenes. He worked 
12 hours a day, from September 11 to November 22, 2001.
  Today, he has reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, RADS, a rare 
irritant-induced form of asthma. His sinuses often bleed. He is prone 
to headaches and upper respiratory infections.
  Married, the father of three and grandfather of three, he retired in 
2003; and he says, ``I start the day with four to five inhalers and a 
pill. Will I have cancer at 66? Will I live my life as long as I 
should?''
  That is the question, and that is why Jerry and Chris and I have 
worked so hard to have monitoring. And we need to continue this 
monitoring treatment not just for the next 5 years but doctors say for 
the next 20 or 30 years. New diseases are coming up. Pulmonary 
fibrosis, where the fibers in the lungs, they can hardly breathe. It's 
like an iron lung.
  And, Jerry, you were at those hearings. Can you comment and add to 
what Chris said about the hearings? And Jerry and I and Chris really 
represent many people who work there, the residents. We need to get the 
residents into the registry, too.
  Mr. NADLER. Thank you, Carolyn.
  What struck me about the hearings was several things. We've had 
hearings for a number of years, and I remember the first hearing I 
attended was presided over by Senator Lieberman, a U.S. Senate hearing 
back in February of 2002. But none of this has changed. It's 5 years 
later, and it hasn't changed.
  Number one, you see the victims, the first responders, the people who 
dropped everything they were doing to help, to help victims that we 
thought people might be still alive under the debris. They weren't. Who 
then helped with the cleanup to get, who worked on the pile for 40 and 
50 days. And we heard story after story of how healthy people were no 
longer healthy and they could no longer work and they could no longer 
breathe, how they now had to take 20 and 30 and 40 different pills and 
medications a day, how they couldn't pay for the medications, how they 
had lost their jobs, and because they lost their jobs they lost their 
health coverage and how the workers comp system didn't work for them.

                              {time}  2215

  How a hero who was given an award for heroism at the World Trade 
Center, when he went for workers' comp, they said, Prove you were 
there.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Jerry, I have his picture in my office. He 
found the flag, the flag that was flown around the world from Ground 
Zero, and they will not acknowledge that he worked there. He got 
awards. And what struck me about him and many others, Jerry and Chris, 
if you will remember, at that hearing they testified they would do it 
again even though they know they had lost their health.
  Mr. NADLER. So the first thing we saw at those hearings were these 
people testifying about how they selflessly worked, and we know that 
they did, and how they had been betrayed by every level of government 
in treating them, by the workers' comp and the State, by the Federal 
Government.
  The second thing was it was clear from the heroic work done by the 
people at Mount Sinai and the Fire Department of the City of New York, 
in trying to deal with these sick people and who had to put the funding 
together for private philanthropic sources, that until last year there 
was no government funding for any of this whatsoever. Finally we got a 
few million dollars.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. It is a scandal. An absolute scandal. And 
at the hearing remember the Health Commissioner testified that Zadroga 
did not die from 9/11? I couldn't believe it.
  Mr. NADLER. The Health Commissioner testified that. There has been a 
denial, a straightforward denial, by City and State people because they 
don't want to admit liability.
  The third thing was that even now, even now, when Dr. Agwunobi 
testified, he said we will have a plan. Well, we haven't seen the plan. 
We know now that it is going to cost about $300 million a year just to 
deal with the health conditions of the people we know about. Never mind 
the cleaning up of the contaminated areas, but just for the first 
responders, it is going to cost about $300 million a year. The 
President proposed $25 million, but it was made very clear at the 
hearing, the last hearing, that the plan that the Federal Government 
was going to come up with, if they actually come up with a plan, would 
not deal with residents, would not deal with the health problems of 
people who are living there, who were beseeched by the City and Federal 
Government to come back and live and work in lower Manhattan and are 
suffering because they listened to that.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Our legislation calls for that all the 
residents should be covered. But remember, at the last hearing that 
Congressman Towns had, Agwunobi testified that we no longer needed a 
plan, that he wasn't going to give us a plan.
  They said they would give us a plan in February. Where is it? That is 
why we have a resolution calling for a plan on how we are going to 
monitor and treat these heroes and heroines.

[[Page 11911]]


  Mr. NADLER. And that is a scandal also. The other thing that was very 
clear, and it has been clear from the EPA right up to date, is that the 
registry has dealt with people who live or who work in lower Manhattan, 
below Canal Street, as if there was a 30,000-foot high wall along Canal 
Street or a Star Trek-type force field along Canal Street and across 
the East River because, after all, anyone who lives north of Canal 
Street has no problem. And anybody who lives in Brooklyn, where we saw 
the satellite photos showed the plume went and where Congressman Weiner 
testified that at his office 10 miles away, debris was falling on the 
terrace at his office, and we know it was falling across all these 
neighborhoods across Brooklyn; we don't have to deal with that. We are 
going to be studiously ignorant of all the people in these other places 
outside of lower Manhattan. That was brought out very clearly in 
Congressman Towns' hearing. And the fact is, we have to look at all 
these hearings areas and do the job properly.
  Mr. SHAYS. I would add to that but also make the point that this 
won't be the first city that will have to deal with this kind of issue. 
I mean, we want to be able to protect and prevent a terrorist attack, 
but there may be some other event. And what we also need is a protocol 
that makes sure that future first responders are never put in this 
condition and that residents around wherever an event takes place are 
notified and given good information. The bottom line is, no one was 
ever given good information from day one.
  Mr. NADLER. That is a very good point.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. That is very true. But I also want to build 
on what he said, that people are going to be watching how we treat 
these first responders. God forbid that we have another 9/11 attack or 
another terrorist attack, they are going to know that we weren't there 
to provide, at the very least, the health care and the monitoring that 
the heroes and heroines need, and that is a very important precedent. 
It is not only, do we need to take care of these men and women, Mr. 
McCormick, who is with us tonight in the Gallery, but we have to send a 
message that we are going to be there for our first responders.
  Mr. NADLER. There are a couple of lessons that really should be 
learned here. One, Abraham Lincoln said, at the end of the Civil War, 
that you have to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for 
his widow and his orphan. We are failing in doing that, when he who 
shall have borne the battle here are heroes who came in to help, and we 
are abandoning them.
  Second, the EPA had a duty to do the job here. They failed in that 
duty. And that is a danger for the future. The law provides that the 
EPA must come in and classify the area and make sure and protect 
people, and the OSHA laws were enforced in Washington so no one got 
sick. They weren't enforced in New York, and 50,000 people are sick.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I know. There were lots of terrible 
mistakes that are causing people their health now.
  And in closing in this final minute, I just want to underscore that 
we as a Nation must not forget the firefighters, police officers, 
emergency medical technicians and all the other responders, volunteers 
and residents who bravely rushed down to save lives even as everyone 
else was running in the opposite direction. We must not forget the 
rescue, recovery and cleanup workers who stayed on for months at Ground 
Zero in service to our country. And we must not forget the residents, 
area workers and school children who lived, worked and studied through 
the toxins and have now become sick.
  Once again, I stand on this floor of Congress and note that this was 
an attack against our Nation, and we know that the Nation responded. 
Every State has workers that were affected by the deadly toxins at 
Ground Zero. Every State had residents who rushed to our State and 
rushed down to Ground Zero to help. We will never forget them, and we 
will not stop. Both sides of the aisle, we are committed to making sure 
that everyone who was exposed to the deadly toxins is treated and 
everyone who is sick is going to get medical care. That is the least 
that we can do for these brave men and women.
  I thank my colleagues and especially Ryan McCormick, who is here with 
us tonight, for coming. And I thank you for your work not only tonight 
on this Special Order tonight but throughout your year in Congress. 
Since 9/11, it has been a priority of yours. And my constituents, the 
thousands that were affected thank you for your efforts, and I thank 
you for having this opportunity of joining me in this Special Order.

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