OFF THE WIRE
The new law will provide aid to the survivors of the terror attacks and to those who became ill working in the ruins
HONOLULU — President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill to provide aid to survivors of the Sept. 11 attacks and first responders who became ill working in the ruins at the World Trade Center. .
The bill was one of the last measures Congress passed before adjourning in December. Some Republicans were concerned with how to pay for the bill and they tried to block the measure. But they dropped their opposition after lawmakers struck a compromise to reduce the costs...
The $4.2 billion measure will be paid for with a fee on some foreign companies that get U.S. government procurement contracts.
Obama signed the bill from Hawaii, where he's vacationing with his family.
The 9/11 legislation provides money for monitoring and treating illnesses related to Ground Zero and reopens a victims' compensation fund for another five years to cover wage and other economic losses of sickened workers and nearby residents.
The measure was a product of a compromise involving Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Schumer and Gillibrand had sought $6.2 billion and keeping the compensation fund open for 10 years.
The compromise was reached after Democrats scheduled a showdown test vote for Dec. 22 and Republicans countered by threatening to run a 30-hour clock before allowing final Senate and House votes on the bill. That would have required keeping both the Senate and House in session for votes on Christmas Eve.
The bill gained momentum with help from cable TV personalities. Among the biggest champions of the package were Fox News anchor Shepard Smith and comedian and activist Jon Stewart, who championed the bill and lashed its GOP foes on his Comedy Central TV program "The Daily Show."
Nearly 16,000 responders and 2,700 people living near ground zero are currently sick and receiving treatment,
supporters of the measure said. More than 40,000 responders are in medical monitoring, backers said.
Researchers have found that people exposed to the thick clouds of pulverized building materials at the trade center site have high rates of asthma and sinus problems. Many firefighters also suffered a reduction in lung power.
Doctors aren't sure, though, exactly how many people are ill, and scientific doubt persists about just how many of the hundreds of illnesses are actually linked to the trade center dust. Doctors still don't know whether there is any connection between the dust and potentially fatal illnesses like cancer.
The legislation is named for James Zadroga, a police detective who died at age 34. His supporters say he died from respiratory disease contracted at ground zero, but New York City's medical examiner said Zadroga's lung condition was caused by prescription drug abuse.
