LONG BRANCH — Advocates for the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act may not have to gear up for as much of a fight to reauthorize the program, which is set to expire in 2016.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-Monmouth, Middlesex), the ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, said he has garnered bipartisan support for a bill to make the program — which provides specialized care for September 11 first responders who fall ill—permanent.
“The bill that we have in front of us now makes the program permanent,” Pallone said. “The last time we had some push back from Republican members but we’re not getting that now.
“The Republicans on the committee seem pretty supportive of recognizing the fact that this is something that is national in scope.”
The current legislation was approved in 2011 for a period of five years.
During debate surrounding the bill, some Republicans from districts outside the tri-state area opposed the funding, which led to a lengthy delay in its ultimate passage.
John Feal, a 9/11 first responder and outspoken advocate for the Zadroga bill, said he has noticed a difference between the first time he pushed for the program and the reauthorization effort.
“I wouldn’t call it easier because you still have to go through the same process,” he said. “Congress has a turnaround because it is every two years so a lot of people that were there in 2010 are no longer there in 2015.
“We are re-educating them about the bill and we now have better statistics than we did in 2010.”
Feal said he is confident the bill will eventually pass, but is concerned over the length of time the program might be extended for.
“We haven’t seen the opposition, the question is how long is it going to be,” he said. “Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s not permanent because 9/11 survivors are going to die off.”
There are currently more than 72,000 first responders and people who lived and worked near each of the disaster sites associated with September 11.
According to Feal, of the 72,000. more than 54,000 currently live in New York and more than 4,900 live in New Jersey.
Feal, founder of the Feal Good Foundation, said 429 out of 435 Congressional districts are home to a 9/11 first responder impacted by the bill.
Pallone explained that part of the struggle during passage of the first bill was to convey the message that 9/11 first responders came from all over the country.
“A lot of the people that came were not necessarily from the tri-state area and as time goes on they’ve moved to other states,” he said.
Previously, responders who became ill as a result of their response to 9/11 attack sites were entitled to free health care, but funding was discretionary from year to year. Under the Zadroga bill, which was signed into law in 2011, funding was made permanent for a five-year period.
Some of the ailments included under the bill are various cancers, lung diseases, chronic respiratory disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic or anxiety disorders, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The bill established the World Trade Center Health Program, a permanent program to screen, monitor and treat eligible responders and survivors suffering from diseases related to the attacks.
Also, the legislation builds on the Centers of Excellence, which are currently providing care to thousands of responders and survivors, ensuring ongoing data collection and analysis to evaluate health risks.
While the actual clinics are confined to the East Coast, first responders from all over the country have the ability to seek treatment.
“The way the program is set up you can go to the clinics that exist, but if you live in another part of the country you can go to a specialist who will use the protocols that are set up by these clinics,” Pallone said.
Another component to the program is research into diseases related to 9/11.
“This is a program that is not only is national in scope, but is specialized care for people who contract these diseases that are very unique,” Pallone said. “Part of what this program does is research those diseases and determine what they are, how to diagnose them, how to treat them and to certify that they are related to 9/11.
“We are finding certain cancers that are very unique to people who were on the site and were exposed to this toxic mixture. What we find is, as time goes on and these people that were exposed get older, these diseases crop up and they become more susceptible.”
While Pallone did not have a timeline for when the bill might be on the floor for a vote, he said progress has been made in recent months.
“We had a hearing in July and we are trying to get it marked up in subcommittee and then the full committee,” he said.
Feal spent five days at ground zero and lost half of his left foot after it was crushed by 8,000 pounds of steel. He has made numerous trips to Washington to support the bill.
Along with his advocacy work, Feal supported the 9/11 Responders Remember Park in Nesconset on Long Island, N.Y., which features three granite walls inscribed with the names of each 9/11 first responder who has died from cancer.
While he is confident the bill will ultimately pass, Feal said he is meeting with members of Congress with former host of The Daily Show Jon Stewart to advocate for the bill’s passage.
James Zadroga was a former New York Police Department officer, who died in 2006 from a respiratory illness attributed to his work as a first responder.
Recently Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) called on Congress to extend the Zadroga bill before it expires.