After Shaming By Jon Stewart, House Judiciary Votes To Renew 9/11 Funding Through 2090
Jon Stewart testifies on behalf of 9/11 survivors Image by Getty Images
An abashed House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that will renew a fund for 9/11 survivors, which was set to expire in 2020.
The vote came just hours after comedian Jon Stewart publicly reamed members for not showing up to a hearing where ailing first responders and survivors who make use of the fund were set to give testimony. The New York Post noted that one survivor who came to speak at the mostly-empty hearing was Luis Alvarez, a former NYPD detective living with liver cancer, who will soon begin his 69th round of chemotherapy.
“Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to speak to no one,” Stewart spat at Congress members on Tuesday, as, behind him, survivors nodded. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler was present, as were only four other members of the 15-person committee. Survivors spoke on behalf of the over 90,000 victims and first-responders who are still being treated or monitored in connection to 9/11. The already inadequate funding is set to run out in 2020.
The bi-partisan bill for the funding to be replenished through 2090 with no caps passed unanimously in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. It is expected to pass easily in the House of Representatives.
Jenny Singer is the deputy life/features editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture How one Jewish woman fought the Nazis — and helped found a new Italian republic
-
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
-
Fast Forward Betar ‘almost exclusively triggered’ former student’s detention, judge says
-
Fast Forward ‘Honey, he’s had enough of you’: Trump’s Middle East moves increasingly appear to sideline Israel
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.