Friday, December 17, 2010

Video: 9/11 1st responders reax to shameful Senators


Teamsters working at Ground Zero.
 Four 9/11 first responders suffering cancer, lung and heart disease reacted to the Senate Republicans who filibustered a bill to pay for their health care. Jon Stewart brought the men to The Daily Show studios and taped their response to Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell crying over a friend's retirement. 

They were (unsurprisingly) disgusted by McConnell's tears over his lunch buddy. And John Devlin, a heavy equipment operator, was not impressed by  Arizona's Sen. John Kyl, who said it would be disrespectful to work over the holidays (which would prevent the bill from passing). Devlin said,

It was an honor to work through Christmas on that 9/11 to give that closure to those people standing on the other side of the gate every morning showing us their pictures of their loved ones.
Watch the video here -- it's heartbreaking and infuriating all at the same time.

Republicans in the U.S. Senate are filibustering a bill to compensate the 9/11 first responders who suffer health problems -- like terminal cancer, pulmonary fibrosis and heart disease. The James Zadroga bill would provide $7.4 billion over 10 years to pay for monitoring and treatment. It's named after a NYPD officer who died of respiratory disease attributed to working at Ground Zero.

The New York Daily News reported that first responders had a positive meeting with Maine Sen. Susan Collins about letting the bill come to the floor for a vote. They were optimistic, but we wouldn't advise them to hold their breath.

If you're interested, there's a Facebook page called "I Won't Forget Republicans Sold Out 911 Responders to help the Richest 2%."