Pallone Announces Two New Jersey Witnesses at Hearing on 9/11 Health Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced that two New Jerseyans will testify this Thursday at the Committee’s Health Subcommittee hearing on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act. The witnesses will be Dr. Iris Udasin, Medical Director of the Rutgers’ Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI), and one of her patients, David Howley, a New Jersey resident and retired NYPD police officer. The program at Rutgers, which Dr. Udasin directs and where David Howley has been treated, was created by the Zadroga Act and will expire in 2016 if Congress does not reauthorize the bill. It is currently treating over 4,800 responders or survivors.
Reauthorization of the legislation would ensure first responders and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center continue to receive the monitoring and care they need. Pallone is an original co-sponsor of the bill and, as the lead Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has been integral in securing the upcoming hearing and advancing the bill.
“I am glad that New Jersey residents will be representing the tremendous impact this legislation has had on thousands of 9/11 first responders and survivors in our state and across the country,” said Congressman Pallone. “The World Trade Center Health Program at Rutgers, Dr. Udasin and David Howley are prime examples of how the legislation works to deliver the care first responders need and deserve as they deal with the after-effects of their service at Ground Zero.”
To call attention to the need for reauthorization, Pallone on Monday toured and held a press conference at the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program clinic at EOHSI in Piscataway. Pallone was joined by Dr. Udasin, David Howley and other patients, first responders, the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Firefighters’ Mutual Benevolent Association, and representatives of organized labor whose membership were among the responders.
In 2011, the bipartisan James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 was signed into law, establishing the WTC Health Program and the Nationwide Provider Network and reopened the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). The programs provide the thousands of 9/11 responders and their survivors with medical treatment for 9/11-related health conditions and economic compensation for losses resulting from the attack. Without reauthorization, the WTC Health Program will expire in October of this year and the VCF will expire in 2016.
In addition to providing health care services, the legislation directs the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research into new conditions that may be related to the attacks and to evaluate emerging methods of diagnosis and treatment. The program builds on the expertise of the Centers of Excellence, which are currently providing high-quality care to thousands of responders and ensuring ongoing data collection and analysis to evaluate health risks.