00:01I want to thank Mr. Collins and Mr. Naylor for putting this together, but as I sit here
00:05today, I can't help but think what an incredible metaphor this room is for the entire process
00:15that getting health care and benefits for 9-11 first responders has come to.
00:22Behind me, a filled room of 9-11 first responders, and in front of me, a nearly empty Congress.
00:37Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to speak to no one.
00:47It's shameful, it's an embarrassment to the country, and it is a stain on this institution.
00:54You should be ashamed of yourselves, for those that aren't here, but you won't be, because
01:01accountability doesn't appear to be something that occurs in this chamber.
01:08We don't want to be here.
01:10Lou doesn't want to be here.
01:12None of these people want to be here.
01:15But they are, and they're not here for themselves.
01:17They're here to continue fighting for what's right.
01:24Lou's going to go back for his 69th chemo.
01:27The great Ray Pfeiffer would come down here, his body riddled with cancer and pain where
01:33he couldn't walk, and the disrespect shown to him and to the other lobbyists on this bill,
01:45is utterly unacceptable.
01:52You know, I used to get, I would be so angry at the latest injustice that's done to these
01:58men and women, and you know, another business card thrown our way, as a way of shooing us
02:06away, like children trick-or-treating, rather than the heroes that they are and will always
02:13be.
02:15Ray would say, calm down, Johnny, calm down.
02:19I got all the cards I need, and he would tap his pocket.
02:36Where he kept the prayer cards for 343 firefighters.
02:50The official FDNY response time to 9-11 was five seconds.
02:55Five seconds.
02:59That's how long it took for FDNY, for NYPD, for Port Authority, for EMS to respond to an urgent
03:10need from the public, five seconds.
03:17Hundreds died in an instant.
03:20Thousands more poured in to continue to fight for their brothers and sisters.
03:34The breathing problem started almost immediately, and they were told they weren't sick, they
03:39were crazy.
03:41And then, as the illnesses got worse, and things became more apparent, well, okay, you're sick,
03:46but it's not from the pile.
03:50And then, when the science became irrefutable, okay, it's the pile, but this is a New York
03:58issue.
04:03I don't know if we have the money.
04:09And I'm sorry if I sound angry and undiplomatic, but I'm angry, and you should be too, and they're
04:17all angry as well.
04:18And they have every justification to be that way.
04:24There is not a person here.
04:26There is not an empty chair on that stage that didn't tweet out, never forget the heroes
04:33of 9-11.
04:35Never forget their bravery.
04:37Never forget what they did, what they gave to this country.
04:40Well, here they are.
04:45And where are they?
04:50And it would be one thing if their callous indifference and rank hypocrisy were benign,
04:58but it's not.
05:02Your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity.
05:08Time.
05:17It's the one thing they're running out of.
05:21This should be flipped.
05:23This hearing should be flipped.
05:25These men and women should be up on that stage, and Congress should be down here answering
05:29their questions as to why this is so damn hard and takes so damn long.
05:40And why no matter what they get, something's always pulled back and they got to come back.
05:49Mr. Johnson, you made a point earlier, and it was one that we have heard over and over
05:53again in these halls, and I couldn't help but to answer to it, which was, you said, look,
05:58you know, you guys are obviously heroes, and 9-11 was a big deal, but, you know, we have
06:02a lot of stuff here to do.
06:03And, you know, we've got to make sure there's money for a variety of disasters, hurricanes,
06:09and tornadoes.
06:10But this wasn't a hurricane.
06:12And this wasn't a tornado.
06:13And, by the way, that's your job anyway.
06:16We can't fund these programs.
06:18You can.
06:18Setting aside that no American in this country should face financial ruin because of a health
06:24issue, certainly 9-11 first responders shouldn't have to decide whether to live or to have a place
06:31to live.
06:33And the idea that you can only give them five more years of the VCF because you're not quite
06:38sure what's going to happen five years from now, well, I can tell you, I'm pretty sure what's
06:43going to happen five years from now.
06:46More of these men and women are going to get sick, and they are going to die.
06:53And I am awfully tired of hearing that it's a 9-11 New York issue.
06:59Al-Qaeda didn't shout, death to Tribeca.
07:05They attacked America.
07:07And these men and women, and their response to it, is what brought our country back.
07:15It's what gave a reeling nation a solid foundation to stand back upon, to remind us of why this
07:23country is great, of why this country is worth fighting for, and you are ignoring them.
07:36And you can end it tomorrow.
07:40Why this bill isn't unanimous consent and a stand-alone issue is beyond my comprehension.
07:49And I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation for why.
07:52It'll get stuck in some transportation bill or some appropriations bill and get sent over to the Senate,
07:58where a certain someone from the Senate will use it as a political football
08:03to get themselves maybe another new import tax on petroleum.
08:08Because that's what happened to us in 2015.
08:11And we won't allow it to happen again.
08:14Thank God for people like John Field.
08:16Thank God for people like Ray Pfeiffer.
08:18Thank God for all of these people who will not let it happen.
08:26They responded in five seconds.
08:31They did their jobs with courage, grace, tenacity, humility.
08:4218 years later, do yours.
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