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For nearly nine years the 9/11 rescue workers have labored to have
access to healthcare to treat the injuries sustained when they worked at ground
zero on September 11, 2001, when planes slammed into the World Trade Center
towers in Manhattan. And the bill that would finally have granted those
sick 9/11 rescue workers some help failed in the U.S. House of Representatives
on Thursday.
For nearly nine years the 9/11 rescue workers have labored to have
access to healthcare to treat the injuries sustained when they worked at ground
zero on September 11, 2001, when planes slammed into the World Trade Center
towers in Manhattan. And the bill that would finally have granted those
sick 9/11 rescue workers some help failed in the U.S. House of Representatives
on Thursday.
I know only four of these workers personally. And tonight I feel
such shame and outrage that the only way I can express my sorrow is to let
others know some of what I know and what I feel tonight. Collectively we
must do something to weigh in -- our humanity demands so.
The failed bill was called the Zadroga Act, HR847, and it had 115
Congressional co-sponsors in the House. It was named for police officer
James Zadroga, who died of respiratory ailments after working at ground zero.
An estimated 10,000 workers who spent time working at the site are
still suffering in the aftermath of that horrific day. If we had a
single-payer, Medicare for all type health system in this nation, these brave
rescue workers would have had and would still have access to care.
But because many became too ill to work following their 9/11
service and many lost their health insurance benefits as a result, many went
without care at just those moments when it might have made the most difference.
Ruthless individualists that we are, our system forced thousands
of rescue workers to prove their disabling conditions but left them broke and
battered and without income or any benefits at all as they fought either
workers compensation claims or Social Security appeals. We asked them to
do this while they were ill. We sure treat heroes like less than heroes,
eh? None of them ever asked to see who could pay with which plans when
they raced in to the towers to help, did they?
On the bright blue September morn in Manhattan, thousands of our
fellow Americans ran into harm's way as the tragedy unfolded and as the
rest of us sat transfixed to our television screens. We all watched in
horror as those events occurred -- and most people I knew were astounded
by the bravery of the rescue personnel who fought their way into the smoke and
the dust and the rubble and the broken buildings and the burning bodies and
everything that exploded into the air. Others ran away, covered in dust
and dodging debris. Others wandered lost in the clouds of toxic
mist. Close your eyes. I'll bet some image of the awful day
can still flash into your own consciousness, even all these years later.
It still makes me want to cry. It still packs a gut punch.
And I wasn't there. But thousands of people, thousands
of our fellow Americans ran in where we could not. As we watched, they
acted. As we cried, they tried. And many stayed in the mess for
weeks or even months.
Right now, it doesn't really matter to me what dysfunction
of our political system caused the failure -- again -- of the bill
that would help the 9/11 workers still suffering. It doesn't matter
to me that it was a Republican failure or a Democratic one. I don't
care if it was a procedural struggle or a political charade to call one another
out on unrelated, hot button issues in advance of the mid-term elections in
November. It was wrong of us to forsake these amazing workers for this
long, and it was wrong this week for Congress to let them down all over again.
I saw Rep. Anthony Weiner rage against the failed process, as I am
sure many did. But I want to see that rage turned into getting the help
these responders need. If you didn't see Rep. Weiner's
comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O_GRkMZJn4
Remember how we all felt about these workers in the hours and days
after the buildings collapsed? Do you remember all the politicians
standing with them, wrapping their arms around them and promising them that
they were to be honored -- always? I remember.
The four 9/11 rescue workers I know all need some of the benefits
this legislation would have given. Yet if we had a sane and just healthcare
system that extended healthcare as a basic human right, we'd not be
denying these rescue workers the care they so desperately need.
I met Reggie Cervantes, Billy Maher and John Graham first when we
were being filmed for SiCKO, Michael Moore's 2007 film about the broken
U.S. healthcare system. Two have serious respiratory issues; one serious
dental problems. All struggle with varying degrees of post traumatic
stress. They saw and heard and smelled and touched things on 9/11 and in
the weeks and months that followed that I cannot imagine -- and am
grateful I probably never will. When I asked them to tell me, they would
often answer, "You don't want to know."
I met John Feal some months later. John runs the Feal Good
Foundation (https://www.fealgoodfoundation.com/)
and has advocated for and helped 9/11 rescue workers and families for nine
years.
One time shortly after SiCKO was released when my family was
hurting to pay the bills and stay afloat, John Feal helped us without question
or hesitation. Another time, Billy Maher and his mom put together a care
package for my family and shipped it to Denver from New York. We were
rescued.
I am so ashamed today that this nation's collective memory
of their sacrifice is so short and so shallow. I am sad that as a nation we
have so far been too selfish and short-sighted to demand healthcare for all
-- healthcare not health insurance.
And what nags at me most is the certainty that though we have
failed them yet again by failing to pass this legislation or put in place a health
system that would have spared them all their years of illness and many deaths
is that still today I know without fail each and every one of them would still
rescue me if I needed it. Every one of them would rescue you or rescue
one of the Congressmen or his or her family members even in the wake of their
outrageous inability to pass this bill.
Reggie, John, Billy and John, I am so sorry. We owe you our
best efforts to rectify this in every and any way possible. We must call
every elected official. We ought to send money to the Feal Good
Foundation and help the rescue workers push onward. We ought to keep our
word to you.
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For nearly nine years the 9/11 rescue workers have labored to have
access to healthcare to treat the injuries sustained when they worked at ground
zero on September 11, 2001, when planes slammed into the World Trade Center
towers in Manhattan. And the bill that would finally have granted those
sick 9/11 rescue workers some help failed in the U.S. House of Representatives
on Thursday.
I know only four of these workers personally. And tonight I feel
such shame and outrage that the only way I can express my sorrow is to let
others know some of what I know and what I feel tonight. Collectively we
must do something to weigh in -- our humanity demands so.
The failed bill was called the Zadroga Act, HR847, and it had 115
Congressional co-sponsors in the House. It was named for police officer
James Zadroga, who died of respiratory ailments after working at ground zero.
An estimated 10,000 workers who spent time working at the site are
still suffering in the aftermath of that horrific day. If we had a
single-payer, Medicare for all type health system in this nation, these brave
rescue workers would have had and would still have access to care.
But because many became too ill to work following their 9/11
service and many lost their health insurance benefits as a result, many went
without care at just those moments when it might have made the most difference.
Ruthless individualists that we are, our system forced thousands
of rescue workers to prove their disabling conditions but left them broke and
battered and without income or any benefits at all as they fought either
workers compensation claims or Social Security appeals. We asked them to
do this while they were ill. We sure treat heroes like less than heroes,
eh? None of them ever asked to see who could pay with which plans when
they raced in to the towers to help, did they?
On the bright blue September morn in Manhattan, thousands of our
fellow Americans ran into harm's way as the tragedy unfolded and as the
rest of us sat transfixed to our television screens. We all watched in
horror as those events occurred -- and most people I knew were astounded
by the bravery of the rescue personnel who fought their way into the smoke and
the dust and the rubble and the broken buildings and the burning bodies and
everything that exploded into the air. Others ran away, covered in dust
and dodging debris. Others wandered lost in the clouds of toxic
mist. Close your eyes. I'll bet some image of the awful day
can still flash into your own consciousness, even all these years later.
It still makes me want to cry. It still packs a gut punch.
And I wasn't there. But thousands of people, thousands
of our fellow Americans ran in where we could not. As we watched, they
acted. As we cried, they tried. And many stayed in the mess for
weeks or even months.
Right now, it doesn't really matter to me what dysfunction
of our political system caused the failure -- again -- of the bill
that would help the 9/11 workers still suffering. It doesn't matter
to me that it was a Republican failure or a Democratic one. I don't
care if it was a procedural struggle or a political charade to call one another
out on unrelated, hot button issues in advance of the mid-term elections in
November. It was wrong of us to forsake these amazing workers for this
long, and it was wrong this week for Congress to let them down all over again.
I saw Rep. Anthony Weiner rage against the failed process, as I am
sure many did. But I want to see that rage turned into getting the help
these responders need. If you didn't see Rep. Weiner's
comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O_GRkMZJn4
Remember how we all felt about these workers in the hours and days
after the buildings collapsed? Do you remember all the politicians
standing with them, wrapping their arms around them and promising them that
they were to be honored -- always? I remember.
The four 9/11 rescue workers I know all need some of the benefits
this legislation would have given. Yet if we had a sane and just healthcare
system that extended healthcare as a basic human right, we'd not be
denying these rescue workers the care they so desperately need.
I met Reggie Cervantes, Billy Maher and John Graham first when we
were being filmed for SiCKO, Michael Moore's 2007 film about the broken
U.S. healthcare system. Two have serious respiratory issues; one serious
dental problems. All struggle with varying degrees of post traumatic
stress. They saw and heard and smelled and touched things on 9/11 and in
the weeks and months that followed that I cannot imagine -- and am
grateful I probably never will. When I asked them to tell me, they would
often answer, "You don't want to know."
I met John Feal some months later. John runs the Feal Good
Foundation (https://www.fealgoodfoundation.com/)
and has advocated for and helped 9/11 rescue workers and families for nine
years.
One time shortly after SiCKO was released when my family was
hurting to pay the bills and stay afloat, John Feal helped us without question
or hesitation. Another time, Billy Maher and his mom put together a care
package for my family and shipped it to Denver from New York. We were
rescued.
I am so ashamed today that this nation's collective memory
of their sacrifice is so short and so shallow. I am sad that as a nation we
have so far been too selfish and short-sighted to demand healthcare for all
-- healthcare not health insurance.
And what nags at me most is the certainty that though we have
failed them yet again by failing to pass this legislation or put in place a health
system that would have spared them all their years of illness and many deaths
is that still today I know without fail each and every one of them would still
rescue me if I needed it. Every one of them would rescue you or rescue
one of the Congressmen or his or her family members even in the wake of their
outrageous inability to pass this bill.
Reggie, John, Billy and John, I am so sorry. We owe you our
best efforts to rectify this in every and any way possible. We must call
every elected official. We ought to send money to the Feal Good
Foundation and help the rescue workers push onward. We ought to keep our
word to you.
For nearly nine years the 9/11 rescue workers have labored to have
access to healthcare to treat the injuries sustained when they worked at ground
zero on September 11, 2001, when planes slammed into the World Trade Center
towers in Manhattan. And the bill that would finally have granted those
sick 9/11 rescue workers some help failed in the U.S. House of Representatives
on Thursday.
I know only four of these workers personally. And tonight I feel
such shame and outrage that the only way I can express my sorrow is to let
others know some of what I know and what I feel tonight. Collectively we
must do something to weigh in -- our humanity demands so.
The failed bill was called the Zadroga Act, HR847, and it had 115
Congressional co-sponsors in the House. It was named for police officer
James Zadroga, who died of respiratory ailments after working at ground zero.
An estimated 10,000 workers who spent time working at the site are
still suffering in the aftermath of that horrific day. If we had a
single-payer, Medicare for all type health system in this nation, these brave
rescue workers would have had and would still have access to care.
But because many became too ill to work following their 9/11
service and many lost their health insurance benefits as a result, many went
without care at just those moments when it might have made the most difference.
Ruthless individualists that we are, our system forced thousands
of rescue workers to prove their disabling conditions but left them broke and
battered and without income or any benefits at all as they fought either
workers compensation claims or Social Security appeals. We asked them to
do this while they were ill. We sure treat heroes like less than heroes,
eh? None of them ever asked to see who could pay with which plans when
they raced in to the towers to help, did they?
On the bright blue September morn in Manhattan, thousands of our
fellow Americans ran into harm's way as the tragedy unfolded and as the
rest of us sat transfixed to our television screens. We all watched in
horror as those events occurred -- and most people I knew were astounded
by the bravery of the rescue personnel who fought their way into the smoke and
the dust and the rubble and the broken buildings and the burning bodies and
everything that exploded into the air. Others ran away, covered in dust
and dodging debris. Others wandered lost in the clouds of toxic
mist. Close your eyes. I'll bet some image of the awful day
can still flash into your own consciousness, even all these years later.
It still makes me want to cry. It still packs a gut punch.
And I wasn't there. But thousands of people, thousands
of our fellow Americans ran in where we could not. As we watched, they
acted. As we cried, they tried. And many stayed in the mess for
weeks or even months.
Right now, it doesn't really matter to me what dysfunction
of our political system caused the failure -- again -- of the bill
that would help the 9/11 workers still suffering. It doesn't matter
to me that it was a Republican failure or a Democratic one. I don't
care if it was a procedural struggle or a political charade to call one another
out on unrelated, hot button issues in advance of the mid-term elections in
November. It was wrong of us to forsake these amazing workers for this
long, and it was wrong this week for Congress to let them down all over again.
I saw Rep. Anthony Weiner rage against the failed process, as I am
sure many did. But I want to see that rage turned into getting the help
these responders need. If you didn't see Rep. Weiner's
comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O_GRkMZJn4
Remember how we all felt about these workers in the hours and days
after the buildings collapsed? Do you remember all the politicians
standing with them, wrapping their arms around them and promising them that
they were to be honored -- always? I remember.
The four 9/11 rescue workers I know all need some of the benefits
this legislation would have given. Yet if we had a sane and just healthcare
system that extended healthcare as a basic human right, we'd not be
denying these rescue workers the care they so desperately need.
I met Reggie Cervantes, Billy Maher and John Graham first when we
were being filmed for SiCKO, Michael Moore's 2007 film about the broken
U.S. healthcare system. Two have serious respiratory issues; one serious
dental problems. All struggle with varying degrees of post traumatic
stress. They saw and heard and smelled and touched things on 9/11 and in
the weeks and months that followed that I cannot imagine -- and am
grateful I probably never will. When I asked them to tell me, they would
often answer, "You don't want to know."
I met John Feal some months later. John runs the Feal Good
Foundation (https://www.fealgoodfoundation.com/)
and has advocated for and helped 9/11 rescue workers and families for nine
years.
One time shortly after SiCKO was released when my family was
hurting to pay the bills and stay afloat, John Feal helped us without question
or hesitation. Another time, Billy Maher and his mom put together a care
package for my family and shipped it to Denver from New York. We were
rescued.
I am so ashamed today that this nation's collective memory
of their sacrifice is so short and so shallow. I am sad that as a nation we
have so far been too selfish and short-sighted to demand healthcare for all
-- healthcare not health insurance.
And what nags at me most is the certainty that though we have
failed them yet again by failing to pass this legislation or put in place a health
system that would have spared them all their years of illness and many deaths
is that still today I know without fail each and every one of them would still
rescue me if I needed it. Every one of them would rescue you or rescue
one of the Congressmen or his or her family members even in the wake of their
outrageous inability to pass this bill.
Reggie, John, Billy and John, I am so sorry. We owe you our
best efforts to rectify this in every and any way possible. We must call
every elected official. We ought to send money to the Feal Good
Foundation and help the rescue workers push onward. We ought to keep our
word to you.