Brigette Honaker  |  July 19, 2019

Category: Cancer

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If passed, the renewed 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund would be in place until 2090.The House of Representatives has voted to permanently authorize the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, with a Senate vote to follow by August.

The House passed the bill to permanently reauthorize the Fund in a landslide vote of 402 to 12. According to Congressional documents, the bill is titled “Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act.”

If the Senate passes the bill, the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund will be reauthorized through 2090. This will ensure that claims from 9/11 survivors will be paid in full for the entirety of attack survivors’ expected lifespans. According to the Congressional Budget Office, reauthorizing the Fund will cost around $10.2 billion.

The Senate will go on a planned recess in August, so advocates are pushing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the bill to the floor before the break. McConnell previously met with first-responders and reportedly promised a vote. First-responders reportedly left McConnell with the badge of Luis Alvarez, a former NYPD detective who died shortly after testifying before Congress.

First-responders argue that they are dying while the funds of the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund dwindle, and that reauthorizing it as soon as possible would provide some level of relief.

“When we get a bill passed, people are still going to die – cops, firefighters, construction workers, Red Cross volunteers. But we can offer their families comfort and relief,” advocate John Feal said, according to CBS News.

The 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund provides money to individuals injured as a result of the 2001 terrorist attacks. This includes the first-responders who spent weeks sorting through the toxic rubble only to develop serious illnesses later.

During the attacks and the aftermath, countless toxic chemicals were released into the air, including asbestos. Many of these toxins have a long latency period, meaning that some survivors and first-responders are only now getting sick.

The original 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund ran from 2011 to 2004. In 2011, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, named for a deceased first responder, was passed to reauthorize the fund through 2016. The fund was once again reauthorized through 2020.

Although the fund has provided compensation for thousands of individuals, countless first responders and survivors still need help. In February 2019, the Victims Compensation Fund Special Master revealed that the fund’s remaining resources would not be enough to pay all of the pending and projected claims. As a result, payment on these claims was going to be significantly less than what earlier claimants received.

The recently proposed bill would solve this problem and ensure that first responders who risked their lives will be able to secure any compensation they may need in the future.

Navigating the complex and burdensome paperwork and strict deadlines to participate in the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund can be difficult. An experienced 9/11 Victim Fund attorney can help and ensure you get the maximum compensation available.

If you were present near Ground Zero, generally considered to be Lower Manhattan below Canal Street, between September 11, 2001 and May 31, 2002, and were diagnosed with cancer 4 years or more after exposure (or 1 year or more for blood and bone cancers), you may qualify for compensation.

Submit your information now for a free, no-obligation review of your potential 9/11 cancer fund claim.

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If you qualify, a September 11 Victim Compensation Fund attorney will contact you to discuss the details of your potential claim at no charge to you.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to participate in this investigation, it is imperative that you reply to the law firm if they call or email you. Failing to do so may result in you not getting signed up as a client or getting you dropped as a client.

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