The Wide Circle of Terror Victims - Why is Frank Pallone not doing anything?

The circle of terror victims is ever widening.Consider the case of the 9/11 responders. Fire and police personnel, construction trade workers, and clergy responded in the hundreds to the pile of rubble that was the Twin Towers and World Trade Center. Many worked for days on end clearing debris, all the while being told by the US Environmental Protection Agency that the air they were breathing was fine. Unfortunately, the opposite was the case.

Laden with particulates, rescue and recovery workers labored to clear the debris. The clouds of dust they encountered were poisonous. Now, they are sick and dying and seeking government help.

In particular, angry at the delay, 9/11 responder groups are pointing the finger at Congressman Frank Pallone for not releasing from a committee he controls the so-called Zadroga bill that would provide medical assistance to first responders linked to 9/11.

The editors of the Bergen Record in Hackensack, New Jersey saw fit to comment on the problem.

"The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act would provide lifetime entitlements to monitoring and treatment for anyone who is ill, or becomes ill, as a result of the attacks. It would cover an estimated 74,000 people and cost $10 billion over the lifetime of the program."

America has a responsibility to the responders who went into the pit of the World Trade Center to do their jobs.Congressman Pallone has a responsibility to those same individuals to get the Federal government to step up to the plate as it has with other terror victims because these folks are victims of terror, too.

Read the full editorial here.

Well, that's what I think.
Stephen M. Flatow