First responders and volunteers fighting a 9/11 related illness are shaken by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s refusal to fast track a bill to permanently fund the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund.

Paul said he didn’t feel the national debt could handle the $10 billion needed for the fund, which is so low on money that 9/11 VCF claims are being insufficiently fulfilled.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand requested the bill be fast-tracked to the president because the fund has needed two previous extensions on funding, and is in desperate need of another, more long-term solution.

The bill passed the House with a vote of 402 to 12. There were no provisions outlined to pay for the bill, but many House members still felt compelled to support the measure.

Gillibrand told the New York Daily News, “Enough of the political games. Our 9/11 first responders and the entire nation are watching to see if this body actually cares. Do we care about the men and women who answered the call of duty when our country was attacked?”

Real Heroes Dying From 9/11 Related Illness

Congress established the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund by passing the James Zadroga Act. Zadroga was a New York City Police Department detective who died of respiratory disease he contracted while performing rescue and recovery work at Ground Zero.

He had responded immediately after the attack to the first World Trade Center building and was inside of 7 World Trade Center when it started collapsing. He was able to escape in time.

According to accounts, James Zadroga spent more than 470 hours helping dig through piles of debris. Not long after he finished that work, he started coughing, feeling short of breath, experiencing acid reflux, and suffering severe headaches.

He died on Jan. 6, 2006 of respiratory disease, black lung disease and mercury on the brain, all of which were attributed to his time working at Ground Zero. He was 34 years old.

The bill has added the names of late Firefighter Ray Pfeifer and late Detective Luis Alvarez. In June, Alvarez was gravely ill, but testified about the importance of extending the 9/11 Victims Fund. Alvarez died on June 29 after suffering from colorectal cancer for several years. The diagnosis was linked to his time spent digging through debris at Ground Zero. He was 53.

Pfeifer was a firefighter for the Fire Department City of New York. He also was a first responder on 9/11, who advocated and testified on many occasions about the importance of fully funding the Victims Compensation Fund. He died in hospice care of a 9/11 related illness on May 28, 2017 at age 59.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, these first responders and others like them saved more than 25,000 lives that day.

Many of the noxious fumes and carcinogenic particles that people inhaled in the days and months after the attacks can take years of causing imperceptible inflammation and irritation before full-blown cancer is diagnosed. Asbestos, one of the many toxic building materials introduced into the air that day in vast amounts, can take anywhere from 10 to 50 years to produce cancer.

The 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund is so low on money that awards have been significantly reduced since Feb. 25, 2019.