00:00I want to thank Mr. Collins and Mr. Naylor for putting this together, but as I sit here today, I
00:05can't help but think what an incredible metaphor this room is for the entire process that getting health care and
00:15benefits for 9-11 first responders has come to.
00:21Behind me, a filled room of 9-11 first responders, and in front of me, a nearly empty Congress.
00:36Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to speak to no one.
00:46It's shameful. It's an embarrassment to the country, and it is a stain on this institution.
00:53And you should be ashamed of yourselves for those that aren't here, but you won't be.
00:59Because accountability doesn't appear to be something that occurs in this chamber.
01:07We don't want to be here. Lou doesn't want to be here. None of these people want to be here.
01:13But they are. And they're not here for themselves.
01:16They're here to continue fighting for what's right.
01:23Lou's going to go back for his 69th chemo.
01:26The great Ray Pfeiffer would come down here, his body riddled with cancer and pain, where he couldn't walk.
01:33And the disrespect and the disrespect shown to him and to the other lobbyists on this bill is utterly unacceptable.
01:51You know, I used to get, I would be so angry at the latest injustice that's done to these men
01:57and women.
01:58And, you know, another business card thrown our way as a way of shooing us away.
02:06Like children, trick-or-treating, rather than the heroes that they are and will always be.
02:14Ray would say, calm down, Johnny. Calm down.
02:18I got all the cards I need. And he would tap his pocket.
02:35Where he kept the prayer cards for 343 firefighters.
02:48The official FDNY response time to 9-11 was five seconds.
02:54Five seconds.
02:58That's how long it took for FDNY, for NYPD, for Port Authority, for EMS, to respond to an urgent need
03:09from the public.
03:11Five seconds.
03:16Hundreds died in an instant.
03:19Thousands more poured in to continue to fight for their brothers and sisters.
03:33The breathing problem started almost immediately.
03:36And they were told they weren't sick, they were crazy.
03:39And then, as the illnesses got worse and things became more apparent,
03:44well, okay, you're sick, but it's not from the pile.
03:49And then, when the science became irrefutable, okay, it's the pile.
03:56But this is a New York issue.
04:02I don't know if we have the money.
04:08And I'm sorry if I sound angry and undiplomatic.
04:12But I'm angry.
04:14And you should be too.
04:15And they're all angry as well.
04:17And they have every justification to be that way.
04:23There is not a person here, there is not an empty chair on that stage,
04:29that didn't tweet out, never forget the heroes of 9-11.
04:33Never forget their bravery.
04:36Never forget what they did, what they gave to this country.
04:39Well, here they are.
04:44And where are they?
04:48And it would be one thing if their callous indifference and rank hypocrisy were benign.
04:57But it's not.
04:59Your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity.
05:06Time.
05:16It's the one thing they're running out of.
05:20This should be flipped.
05:22This hearing should be flipped.
05:24These men and women should be up on that stage.
05:26And Congress should be down here answering their questions as to why this is so damn hard and takes so
05:37damn long.
05:39And why no matter what they get, something's always pulled back and they got to come back.
05:48Mr. Johnson, you made a point earlier.
05:50And it was one that we have heard over and over again in these halls.
05:53And I couldn't help but to answer to it, which was, you said, look, you know, you guys are obviously
05:58heroes and 9-11 was a big deal.
06:00But, you know, we have a lot of stuff here to do.
06:02And, you know, we've got to make sure there's money for a variety of disasters, hurricanes and tornadoes.
06:09But this wasn't a hurricane.
06:10And this wasn't a tornado.
06:12And by the way, that's your job anyway.
06:15We can't fund these programs.
06:16You can.
06:17Setting aside that no American in this country should face financial ruin because of a health issue,
06:24certainly 9-11 first responders shouldn't have to decide whether to live or to have a place to live.
06:32And the idea that you can only give them five more years of the VCF because you're not quite sure
06:37what's going to happen five years from now.
06:40Well, I can tell you, I'm pretty sure what's going to happen five years from now.
06:44More of these men and women are going to get sick and they are going to die.
06:52And I am awfully tired of hearing that it's a 9-11 New York issue.
06:58Al-Qaeda didn't shout, death to Tribeca.
07:04They attacked America.
07:06And these men and women and their response to it is what brought our country back.
07:13It's what gave a reeling nation a solid foundation to stand back upon.
07:20To remind us of why this country is great.
07:23Of why this country is worth fighting for.
07:25And you are ignoring them.
07:35And you can end it tomorrow.
07:39Why this bill isn't unanimous consent and a stand-alone issue is beyond my comprehension.
07:47And I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation for why.
07:51It will get stuck in some transportation bill or some appropriations bill and get sent over to the Senate where
07:57a certain someone from the Senate will use it as a political football to get themselves maybe another new import
08:05tax on petroleum.
08:06Because that's what happened to us in 2015.
08:10And we won't allow it to happen again.
08:13Thank God for people like John Field.
08:15Thank God for people like Ray Pfeiffer.
08:17Thank God for all of these people who will not let it happen.
08:25They responded in five seconds.
08:30They did their jobs.
08:32With courage, grace, tenacity, humility.
08:4118 years later, do yours.
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