Frelinghuysen praises House Approval of 9/11 First Responders Health Bill

New Jersey Responders Benefit

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) today praised inclusion of the Zadroga Act into the must-pass Consolidated Appropriations Act approved by the House today. The Zadroga Act provides a long-term extension of the health care program for 9/11 first responders, including many from New Jersey, and others suffering from long-term health problems due to their work in Lower Manhattan in 2001 and 2002.

“Along with NYFD and other New York personnel, dozens of New Jersey’s first responders worked in the recovery zone at Ground Zero that horrible day and thereafter, including the New Jersey Task Force One search and rescue team,” said Frelinghuysen.  “The reauthorization of this long-term health program is very good news for our 9/11 heroes and their families. They deserve the very best medical care if they get sick.”

In 2010 Congress created, with Frelinghuysen’s support, the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and the Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), two critical programs that provide medical monitoring, treatment, and compensation to first responders and survivors that have been found to have a higher incidence of certain illnesses and cancers due to exposure to toxins at Ground Zero.

Today, the House of Representatives passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act. This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the WTCHP for the next 75 years and the VCF through 2020, “ensuring that New Jersey's bravest, who answered the call on that horrible day, continue to receive lifesaving medical treatment,” said Frelinghuysen, the Vice-Chairman of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Committee. 

James Zadroga was a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who died of a respiratory disease that has been attributed to his participation in rescue and recovery operations in the rubble of the World Trade Center.  He was the first NYPD officer whose death was attributed to exposure to his contact with toxic chemicals at Ground Zero.

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