Deny $125M In First-Responder Funds to City

Deny $125M In First-Responder Funds to City

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Despite a last-minute push from a contingent of elected officials, labor leaders and Fire Department representatives, Congressional budget negotiators decided Nov. 16 not to return $125 million in Federal funds to New York.

NICHOLAS SCOPPETTA: Deserved Federal aid. The money, part of a post-9/11 aid package worth $20 billion, was rescinded earlier this summer by the Bush Administration when officials realized it was being held in a bank. The White House said it could be used for other projects.

Sought Responder Aid

But FDNY officials and union leaders, backed by a bipartisan group of Senators and U.S. Representatives, argued that the money should be reallocated for sick first-responders who have been denied Worker's Compensation or need a financial boost to pay for medical treatments.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, who traveled to Washington with Chief of Department Peter Hayden and Deputy Chief Medical Officer David Prezant to lobby for the restoration of the $125 million, expressed dismay over the Congressional committee's decision.

"We're disappointed. That money was part of $20 billion that the President promised, and I think we made a solid case that it should come to us - it's vital for the city," he said. "We're hopeful that it will get added to some emergency funding legislation related to the Katrina disaster - it would be unfortunate if Congress were not to put the money back, given the clear needs of New York and firstresponders here."

Senators Fault GOP

Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton released a joint statement criticizing the House-Senate Labor Conference Committee for its rejection of the provision that would have restored the money. They blamed the House Republican leadership for refusing to allow the rider to be tacked on to a larger appropriations bill.

"Many House Members and Senators visited Ground Zero shortly after September 11 and stood with our heroes. But there were thousands of men and women who worked at Ground Zero for several days, weeks and months beyond September 11 looking for their brothers and sisters, friends and families, and those they did not even know," the Senators said. "Many of them still suffer medical and mental health problems. While we are extremely disappointed that this provision is in jeopardy, this fight is not over."

Their statement was one of the few partisan shots in a campaign that included two Republican officials, U.S. Reps. Vito Fossella, of Staten Island, and Congressman James Walsh of Syracuse.

Uniformed Fire Officers' Association President Peter Gorman, also heavily involved in the lobbying effort to regain the money, made clear he was unhappy.

Broken Promises

"I understand that there might be a way to get this in a future appropriations bill. I've got a lot of faith in the delegation from New York that's made such a bipartisan effort to get this done," he said. "But I'm very disappointed the provision was rejected. That money was promised - promised - to the city by every politician who came up here and stood on that pile. It's unimaginable that an elected official would turn his back on this provision if they understood where this money was needed. It's a real kick in the ass to New York, and it's not right."