In the wake of ongoing reports that volunteers and first responders who rushed down to Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks are suffering from debilitating physical and mental health problems, Senator Hillary Clinton called on her Senate colleagues, FEMA and other officials to address the medical and mental health needs of victims and first responders to disasters, natural or otherwise. 

“Our firefighters, police officers, first responders, workers, and other volunteers who spent days and weeks on the pile at Ground Zero now find that many of those thousands of individuals are suffering debilitating health effects,” she said. “When the Twin Towers fell in New York City there were thousands of firefighters, police officers, first responders, workers, and other volunteers who stood on the piles that were once buildings to look for any survivors. Thousands of these selfless heroes stayed for days, weeks and months as tons of debris continued to smolder and the air around them was filled with toxins. As a result today – nearly five years after those attacks – I have personally met with many individuals whose health continues to deteriorate.  While I have called for and welcomed both the creation of the current World Trade Center Worker Health Monitoring Programs and the efforts of Dr. John Howard, Director of NIOSH, in his capacity as the federal coordinator for 9/11 health, the federal government has no plan to deal with this health crisis for the long-term.”

Last year, the Administration proposed rescinding $125 million in aid to New York. Clinton and her colleagues from the New York Congressional delegation were successful in getting that funding restored so that it can be used for worker’s compensation claims that have gone unpaid as well as medical and mental health assistance for these firefighters, police officers, first responders, workers, and others who responded in a time of crisis.