Maloney Seeks Meeting With Bush On 1st Responder Health Problems
BY JOHN TOSCANO

The heroes of 9/11 are America at its best, but the way they've been treated is shameful. We're asking the president himself to step into the fight against this growing health crisis.

Congressmember Carolyn Maloney and advocates for improved healthcare service for Ground Zero 9/11 first responders called on President George W. Bush last week to meet with the Ground Zero responders and members of Congress to discuss how the federal government can better assist those who became sick cleaning up the World Trade Center site after the 9/11 attack.

Maloney also reinforced the verbal plea with a follow-up letter to the president which was also signed by United States Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton and Congressmembers Vito Fossella (R-C, Staten Island) and Gary Ackerman, Joseph Crowley, Anthony Weiner and Gregory Meeks, all Queens Democrats.

At the rally at Ground Zero, Maloney, Fossella and supporters called for a more comprehensive response from the federal government to the health impacts of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Maloney declared: "The heroes of 9/11 are America at its best, but the way they've been treated is shameful. We're asking the president himself to step into the fight against this growing health crisis. Our goal is simple: health monitoring for everyone exposed to the toxins of Ground Zero and treatment for everyone who's sick. We owe it to future generations of heroes to make sure that in America we take care of those who take care of us."

Among those appearing with Maloney (D-Queens/Manhattan) were hundreds of Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers organized by the New York State AFL-CIO, the New York City Central Labor Council, the Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes Foundation and the Sierra Club.

Maloney noted that thousands of first responders, government employees and Lower Manhattan residents and workers are suffering from illnesses related to their exposure to a variety of toxins at or near the World Trade Center site. Many of these individuals lack health insurance, have not had access to proper health monitoring and treatment and have had significant difficulty obtaining Workers' Compensation benefits.

Maloney said the recent appointment of Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, as the federal coordinator of 9/11 health issues is a promising step forward, "but much more work remains".

The lawmaker pointed out that she and the others "believe that we are in the middle of a gathering health crisis as doctors report that each month "more and more Ground Zero responders are seeking treatment for the first time and that the illnesses of responders already in treatment are proving to be unexpectedly severe and persistent.

"Most ominously," Maloney said, "at least three but perhaps dozens more 9/11 responders have died as a direct result of illnesses that in all likelihood were sustained at Ground Zero."

She closed by asking for a meeting with the president to discuss the serious problem.