Republicans Deny Health Care for 9/11 Heroes
Senate Republicans this morning continued their unprecedented obstructionism by using Senate rules to block long-sought and vital health care services for the 9/11 first responders and recovery workers who are suffering alarming rates of health problems, including several deaths of Ground Zero workers.
The 57-42 vote fell three votes short of the 60 needed to end the Republican filibuster on the James Zadroga Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847). The bill is named after a New York City police officer who died in 2006 from lung ailments tied to his exposure to the toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos, lead, glass fragments and other debris at Ground Zero. The bill would have provided long-term medical care and monitoring for the first responders, recovery workers and others exposed to the Ground Zero.
This morning’s action follows last night’s blockades of a bill to protect the collective bargaining rights of public safety officers and legislation that would have provided a much needed $250 cost of living supplemental payment for Social Security recipients. They have gone two years without a cost of living adjustment.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says these “cheap politic tactics…mark a new low for Senate Republicans.” Read the rest of this entry »
McConnell Leads Republican Opposition to 9/11 Health Care Bill
What’s holding up Senate action on the 9/11 health care bill that passed the House by a vote of 268 to 160 with bipartisan support in September? Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s opposition to the bill is the major stumbling block. McConnell has taken no public position, but in private, according to published reports, he has voiced opposition to the bill.
Reports John Toscano in the Queens Gazette:
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, makes no effort to hide his anti-NYC feelings in opposing the 9/11 bill, even though many volunteers from outside the state volunteered their efforts to the Ground Zero cleanup and became sick as a result of it.
Washington sources reported McConnell’s opposition is the most serious impediment to passing the measure.
House OKs 9/11 Health Bill, But Senate Action Uncertain
The U.S. House today passed the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847) to provide long-term medical care and monitoring for the first responders, recovery workers and others exposed to the Ground Zero toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos, lead, glass fragments and other debris.
The bill passed 268 to 160, with 13 Republicans joining Democrats in support. Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:
Taking care of those who bravely answered the nation’s call on 9/11 transcends partisan politics and tests the integrity of those serving in Congress, and we thank the 251 Democrats and the 17 Republicans who voted in support of the bill. But, the vast majority of Republicans and business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, chose to protect the status quo rather than help our heroes. Working families will not forget that choice this November.
In July, House Republicans blocked the bill. The bill’s fate is uncertain because the Senate must approve it and Republicans have the votes to mount a filibuster and block the bill. Also, both chambers will adjourn this week and not return until after the November elections.
House Republicans Block Medical Help for 9/11 Heroes
House Republicans last night blocked a bill that would provide long-term medical care and monitoring for the nearly 60,000 Sept. 11 rescue and recovery workers and community members whose health is at serious risk from their exposure to the contaminated and toxic rubble at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called the vote a deep disappointment and said:
Helping the thousands of 9/11 responders and others who are now sick as a result of their exposures at the World Trade Center should not be a partisan issue. But sadly, the majority of House Republicans voted against this bill.
The 255-159 vote in favor of the bill included 12 Republicans. But because the bill was on what is known as the suspension calendar used for non-controversial bills, it needed a two-thirds majority to pass. What’s controversial about helping Sept. 11 heroes who faced a toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos, lead, glass fragments and other debris?
Workers Remember 9/11 Victims, First Responders
Read the AFL-CIO Executive Council statement honoring America’s 911 Heroes here.
Working people across the country today are participating in community service and remembrance events to honor those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the first responders who worked tirelessly to rescue the survivors.
These events, which cap a “summer of service” called for by President Obama, come just two days before the AFL-CIO begins its 26th constitutional convention in Pittsburgh, just 80 miles from Shanksville, where United Airlines flight 93 went down eight years ago.
From Anchorage, Alaska, to Peoria, Ill., to Nashville, Tenn., working people are organizing food drives, blood drives and other service events. AFL-CIO central labor councils have conducted more than 300 community-based service projects across the country throughout the summer. Local labor groups from across the country also have conducted activities to help the growing number of unemployed Americans in San Francisco, Dallas and dozens of other communities.
Ground Zero Workers Still Suffer from Lung Problems
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A new study finds nearly one-quarter of a sample of firefighters and other first responders and construction workers exposed to the toxic mix of chemicals and debris at Ground Zero during 9/11 rescue and recovery operations continue to suffer from persistent lung problems.
The continuing study by the Mount Sinai Medical Center’s medical monitoring program examined the workers between 2004 and 2007, repeating exams conducted between the middle of 2002 and 2004. Slightly more than 24 percent had abnormal lung function and limited lung capacity, compared with 28 percent in the first study.
BushWatch: Job Safety and Health Took Big Hits
This is our second look back at eight years of BushWatch. Today we review an area where outgoing President George W. Bush’s actions have a daily, and maybe deadly, impact on men and women who go to work every day—job safety and health.
Whether it was via regulation, legislation, executive order, policy decision or inaction, Bush repeatedly carried out the wishes of Big Business—less enforcement, weaker safety laws, lighter penalties or no regulation at all.
If there was any doubt whom he served, Bush erased that when he ended decades of practice and refused to name union representatives to serve on job-safety study and advisory groups, which also include academic, professional and management representatives.
Here are just some of the lowlights. For the complete accounting, go to BushWatch and click on Health and Safety in the top box.
