Politics & Government

Zadroga Bill Rejected On Senate Floor

No debate for 9/11 first responder health bill until tax cut extensions are approved, GOP says.

The Senate voted not to bring the to the Senate floor on Thursday afternoon. The bill was designed to create a $7 billion fund for 9/11 first responders who are experiencing health problems as a result of their work.

The bill was ultimately filibustered by Republicans who refused to vote on it without an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for Americans making more than $250,000 per year.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the champions of the bill, said she was disgusted by the conduct of Senate Republicans.

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"The idea that tax cuts for millionaires would derail this legislation is simply outrageous and offensive," Gillibrand said. "The men and women who rushed to the burning towers and worked for hundreds of hours on the pile did not delay and the Senate should not have delayed either, certainly not to give tax breaks for millionaires. We should not have to wait for tax deals to do what's right."

Police and firefighters unions in New York City and beyond have been pushing the Senate to pass the bill for months.

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Leroy McGinnis, Queens trustee of the Uniformed Firefighters Association said in an interview earlier this year that time is a matter of life and death for many of the first responders at Ground Zero.

"The wait was too long in coming, and now the majority of [police and firefighters] are concerned more for their families than themselves," McGinnis said talking about the funeral of a firefighter who succumbed died at Christmas time in 2009. "We feel we will continue to go to these funerals if these first responders don't get the help that they need."

It's unclear, for now, whether the bill will have another opportunity in the current lame-duck session of Congress to be voted on.


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