Mayor Presses Feds to Assist WTC Personnel

By RICHARD STEIER

Mayor Bloomberg took his quest for additional aid to treat persons suffering the after-effects of 9/11 to Washington, D.C. March 21, asking a Senate hearing to provide at least $150 million in annual Federal aid and re-open the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: A moral obligation.

The Mayor got sympathy from Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Several Republican Senators, noting the significant cost of granting his requests, asked for greater detail of his proposals. Mr. Bloomberg subsequently met privately with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Levitt.

'Don't Know  Full Damage'

A day later, Democratic Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney of Manhattan and Republican Vito Fosella of Staten Island introduced a bill to provide Federal funds for both health care and compensation to those sick or injured as a result of their time at the World Trade Center site.

The Mayor's remarks were a reprise of comments he made here six weeks ago upon receiving a report from a commission he appointed last September to study the health impact on workers who labored at or near Ground Zero in the wake of the World Trade Center bombings.

Full Damage Unknown

He told the Senate committee that "even now, we still do not - and cannot - know the full extent of the damage we suffered that terrible morning. Tens of thousands of people took part in the rescue and recovery effort - including 45,000 workers and volunteers who came from all 50 states ... Many of these workers and other people who lived and worked near the World Trade Center now suffer from a range of physical and mental health problems. And there's no telling what other illnesses may potentially develop in the future.

"But," Mr. Bloomberg continued, "there is one thing we do know: This nation must never walk away from these courageous men and women who answered the call without hesitation or who lived through this terrible ordeal."

Citing the findings of his commission, he stated, "More than 11,000 firefighters who responded on 9/11 experienced at least one new respiratory symptom within a week of the attacks - and more than 3,000 report that they continue to suffer from conditions including what is known as the 'World Trade Center cough' and 'Reactive Airways Disease.'

"More than 6,500 rescue and recovery workers who were examined in a program at Mount Sinai Medical Center - about 7 out of every 10 - reported at least one new or worsened respiratory symptom while engaged in WTC response efforts. These symptoms have persisted in fully 59 percent of the workers."

Tab $150M Annually

Sustaining and expanding existing screening, monitoring and treatment programs conducted by the Fire and Police Departments and Mount Sinai and Bellevue Hospitals, as well as the research work done by the World Trade Center Health Registry, would cost about $150 million a year, the Mayor told the Senate panel. "At the very least, the Federal Government needs to cover those costs so that these essential needs can be met."

He argued that the terrorist attacks weren't "just a strike against New York - or Washington. It was an attack against all of America. And our government has a clear responsibility to the casualties of that terrible morning."

The Mayor noted that 8,000 city employees and other workers have filed claims against the city and the contractors involved in the recovery and clean-up work at the Trade Center site, presenting a potential liability of billions of dollars. As a start toward settling those claims, he asked that the Victim Compensation Fund be reopened.

Workers whose symptoms suggesting their illnesses were connected to that work did not appear until after December 2003 were ineligible to apply for help from that fund. The fund's former administrator, Kenneth Feinberg, has volunteered to work for free if it is reactivated, and Mr. Bloomberg proposed taking $1 billion now in the Captive Insurance Fund created by the Bush Administration to handle 9/11-related liability claims and transferring it to allow payment through the victim fund.

'Send a Clear Message'

"The mere fact that [some workers'] injuries and illnesses have been slower to emerge should not disqualify them from getting the help they need," the Mayor said.

"What's more, it would send a clear message that if - God forbid - America suffers another terrorist attack, the private sector and our first-responders could respond with the same kind of urgency and selflessness that we saw on 9/11, knowing that their government will always stand by them."