Compensation fund for 70 years, until 2090. The 10year cost of that bill is estimated to be 10. 2 billion. The house floor debate was just about 50 minutes. Without object. Mr. Nadler i yield myself such time as i may consume. Madam speaker, today this body will, for what i hope is the final time, meet its moral obligation to provide for survivors and responders suffering from 9 11 related illnesses. This obligation is twofold. First, on september 11, 2001, it was not just the city of new york and the pentagon that were attacked, it was the entire country. A National Attack is always required a National Response. That is why respondants from around the country rushed to new york to aid in the rescue and Recovery Efforts in the immediate aftermath. Today responders and survivors live in all 50 states. This is a national problem. Congress must provide a national solution. Second, tens of thousands of responders and survivors are sick because the federal government in its rush to get wall street reopened ignored the evidence and the Expert Opinions of scientists. The then head of the Environmental Protection agency repeatedly assured us the air around the World Trade Center was safe to breathe. And we knew it wasnt. But the federal government kept insisting it was. And compounding the federal governments culpability was its failure to conduct a comprehensive cleanup of the environmental disaster created when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. For example, the e. P. A. Administrator told the public that asbestos could be cleaned from apartments with a damp cloth and wet mop. Based on these false assurances, students were sent back to schools that had been contaminated with the toxic dust cloud without ventilation systems being cleaned first. People kept working to clear the pile for months with no protective equipment. Quite simply the federal government lied and now tens of thousands of people are sick with a 9 11 related illness. It now nalls to us falls to us in the words of Abraham Lincoln to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan. Three Times Congress has come together to provide a Health Program and compensation for the victims of 9 11 through a Victims Compensation fund or v. C. F. Most recently in 2015 we made the World Trade CenterHealth Program effectively permanent, extended to 2090. But reauthorized the v. C. F. , Victims Compensation fund, for only five years. As we heard in a Judiciary Committee hearing last month, a fiveyear authorization was not nearly long enough. People are still getting sick as diseases such as cancer often emerge only after long latency periods. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that in the coming years cancer claims will represent 63 of all claims before the v. C. F. , up from 44 today. Further, as the number of responders and survivors continues to rise, the limited resources congress provided to v. C. F. Have proven inadequate. Now thousands of families are facing up to 70 cuts in compensation. I refuse to accept that. Every sick responder and survivor should be treated with the same dignity and compassion. Regardless of when they became sick and no one should be forced to spend their last days walking the halls of congress begging us to reauthorize this program. That is is why we are here today to pass what i hope will be the last authorization we v. C. F. Ed for the c. Despite bipartisan legislation, we reverse all the cuts in compensation and make those families whole. Will extend the authorization through 2092, substantially the same timeline as the World Trade CenterHealth Program and make technical improvements to the program. We have asked so much of our responders and survivors. It is time for us to give them the peace of mind they deserve and pass this bill once and for all. Finally, i want to take a moment to recognize the three men after whom we named this bill. Fpeifer, and ray alvarez. A month ago detective alvarez testified before the Judiciary Committee just 24 hours before what was supposed to be his 69th chemotherapy treatment. A treatment he ultimately was too sick to receive. Two weeks ago he passed away. Like every responder and survivor of 9 11, these three men kept fighting for this program even when they knew it was too late for them. That is the spirit of 9 11. This bill is now their namesake and we vote today in their name. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized. Collins the attacks of 9 11 were acts of war against the United States. It resulted in the deaths of almost 3,000 poom and left a smoldering pile of toxic debris in new york city. Courageous First Responders exhumed the dead with dignity. Today, the site includes the National September 11 memorial. Its fitting that congress do more than memorialize. We must also provide. 9 11 First Responders, like all First Responders, deserve to. Ve their sacrifice recognize this bill would reauthorize the 9 11 Victims Compensation. Nd health care has been extended to 2090. The legislation before us today would extend a separate program to 2090. Namely, the Program Designed to compensate the same victims for lost earnings as a result of the 9 11 attack. The compensation will, of course, cost money. Recognizing that it is not meanspirited in any way, where limited federal dollars and specific sums must be allocated for specific dollar amounts divided up by a program. Sadly, this bill comes to the floor without any provision to pay for the program. In fact, no provision at all. This bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will cost 10. 2 billion and thats the first decade of the seven decades it spends. This bill is in honor of those who served us. The chairman saying this will be the last time is not true because inherently the bill is being passed today. We have not sat down and got this done. The senate will have to do that as we go forward. The process is unfulfilling although we need to continue to move forward. As we look forward to this, its unfortunate we have chosen today to put risk on this compensation. Given the fact the senate has got to now be a part of the solution. While the fiscal impact of this legislation will have to be addressed before its signed into law, whats clear is our collective duty to see our First Responders are treateded fairly and in accordance with what they have given to themselves to a grateful legislation. I am a cosponsor of this legislation. I urge my colleagues to do so as well. But its sad to know we will have to touch this again and time will pass because the senate will have to take this up and do what we should have done here, its find that pay for in a bipartisan, bicameral way so we dont have touch this again and those that are suffering knows this body is committed to them. I commend this chairman and glad we are on this bill together. I wish we wouldnt have to touch it again. We will have to. That will not stand in the way that onoring the people sacrificed us. With that i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves his time. The gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Nadler madam speaker, i now yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. Maloney, one of the chief sponsors of the bill. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for three minutes. Mrs. Maloney i thank the gentleman. Madam speaker, i rise to urge my colleagues to vote yes on 1327, the never forget the heroes act, and to thank the 332 colleagues of mine who have cosponsored this historic bipartisan legislation. When the planes hit on 9 11, our First Responders did not hesitate. Firefighters, police officers, medical and construction workers and volunteers from all around the country rushed to ground zero, the pentagon, and the shanksville crash site. It was a National Response to a National Terrorist attack. We lost nearly 3,000 lives on that day, and in the nearly 18 years since the attack, the death toll continues to climb. We as a nation have a moral obligation, a double moral obligation to take care of the people who took care of us and those who take care of them now because they cannot work. First and foremost, for their service, that day and in the days and weeks and months to follow and, secondly, because of the toxic lie our government told them, that it was safe to work on the site when it clearly was not and because of their exposure to toxins, many of them have cancers and are sick and dying. In 2015, Congress Passed the James Zadroga 9 11 health and compensation act. Making the World Trade CenterHealth Program permanent. It extended the Victims Compensation fund only to 2020. Not only is the fund about to expire, but making matters worse, it is also running out of money. In february, the special master announced due to more and more claims, the fund does not have enough money to make it to 2020. They have had to reduce payouts by 50 to 70 and this is devastating for those who depend on this fund. That is why we need to pass the never forget the heroes act today to fully and permanently fund the Victims Compensation fund. These heroes and their families cannot wait any longer, and i hope they will never have to come back to this congress again to again and again for help and support for their health care and their families. We need to make this fund permanent. If you remember 9 11, you remember that we as a nation vowed that we would never forget. We will not rest, none of us in this coalition will rest until we have turned that promise into a law to help the heroes that were there to help us. I join my colleagues, jerry nadler and peter king, the lead sponsors of this bill. I thank them for their dedication and work. I thank the staff. I thank the heroes that are named in our bill, luis alvarez, ray pfeifer, and James Zadroga, for their inspiration. Thank you. I urge my colleagues to stand with the heroes and vote for this bill. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia. Mr. Collins thank you. Thank you, madam speaker. At this time its my privilege to give five minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. King. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. Mr. King madam speaker, i thank the Ranking Member for recognizing me. Let me also thank him for the support that hes given to this bill. It was a major turning point. Thank you for that very much. It also shows this is not a partisan or regional issue. It affects in all parties, all districts in the United States, all states throughout the country. This was a major effort which the country came together on after 9 11 and as a result of that, there have been casualties and deaths from all over the country. Now, in my own district, i had about 150 people killed. There will be more than that by the time these illnesses run their course. There are so many people in the prime of life who have been cut down from these 9 11 cancers, blood disorders, various intestinal tract illnesses. Its just been a horrible experience to go through for all of these people and their families. Today is a major milestone on the road to full justice for all those who risked their lives, both on the day of 9 11 and the days, weeks, months after 9 11. Those who worked on the down it the pile at ground zero, those who risked their lives then and are now suffering the consequences for that and those who suffer the consequences in the years ahead. These are lead developing cancers and thats why its so important this bill be passed. Let me stress, again, how bipartisan this bill is and mmend jerry nadler and Carolyn Maloney. This has gone on more than 15 years, this fight has gone on, in one dimension or another. Hopefully this will be the final struggle. The details will be worked out. Today is finally doing what has to be done for those men and women from 9 11. Let me also thank the speaker, nancy pelosi. She was instrumental getting this passed in 2010. I want to thank her for keeping her commitment to make sure we got it done this year on a bipartisan basis. Also, we have people here today like those from the uniform fire officers. Patrick from the u. F. A. We have, again, people on both sides. I want to thank my colleague, lee zeldin, congressman fitzpatrick from pennsylvania for their efforts. I want to make sure the message goes out to the American People. This is not a regional bill. This is something that involves the entire nation. This involves the commitment of the United States to always stand with and be with those who put their lives on the line for the rest of us. Again, i cant emphasize enough the importance of this. The men and women out there, those people in our districts that we see, those people we see day in and day out, week in and week out, those suffering, those who had their benefits cut because of the shortage in the fund, that can never be allowed to happen. We have to go forward. Again, i want to emphasize this is bipartisan. This involves the entire nation and its important we target those who are the enemies here. These are the terrorists who atact on 9 11, brought this about, attacked on 9 11, brought this about, this bill is about the people that responded, who went to the pile day after day, month after day, doing what they could in the rescue and showed the courage. We should do what has to be done, to make sure they and their families receive the compensation they need and they are entitled to. This is part of the lasting debt america has to the men and women of 9 11 and those who work in the days, weeks, months afterwards. With that, i urge full support of this legislation. Hopefully when it goes to the senate it will be acted on quickly. The victims of 9 11 have waited too long for this. We cant allow a day to go by. I ask my colleagues to urge adoption of the bill. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia reserves. The chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the house and any manifestation of approval or disapproval of the proceedings is in violation of the rules of the house. The gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Nadler madam speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield one minute to a person who has done more for this as much as anyone else, without strong support this bill would never passed in 2010, the distinguished speaker of the house. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. The speaker thank you, madam speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his kind remarks and for his tremendous leadership. From the first minutes of the assault on our country, mr. Nadler mr. Chairman nadler was there, was there to meet the needs of our country as we protected but also to meet the needs of those who rushed in to save lives. I want to also salute congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who wore a firefighters jacket through the heat of the summer now but all spring until this bill was brought up on the floor. I thank her for her, not only wearing the jacket, but for her relentless, persistent advocacy on behalf of our 9 11 heroes. Im so proud this time this bill is bipartisan and i thank the distinguished gentleman, mr. King from new york, for his leadership, for his recognition of the bipartisan nature what were doing, what we did then and what were doing now and thank you for your leadership, mr. King, as well. It is the never forget the heroes, James Zadroga, ray pfeifer, and luis alvarez, permanent authorization of the 9 11 victim Compensation Fund act. A big name, a tall order, long overdue. When we talk about 9 11, we thread on sacred ground. Our nation suffered a loss we could not ever imagined and we witnessed here rowism that we will never forget. Because of our heroes, 9 11 is etched in our nations history, not only as a day of profound loss and tragedy, but also a day of powerful unity and resilience. On september 11 and its aftermath, our brave First Responders were there for us. We must always be there for them. The never forget the heroes act takes long overdue action to provide Financial Security and support that 9 11 heroes, survivors, and families deserve. Today, we are honored to take this action to ensure that all people suffering from illnesses related to 9 11, debris removal and cleanup efforts in the aftermath and their families get the full rewards they have been promised. Its critically important we restore the compensation to those hit by the drastic, unfair cuts and ensure their claims will be fully paid in the future on the reasons we have to have this additional legislation is because there are so many more diagnosis of cancer and the rest thats followed. This bill honors the heroes after which it is named. James zadroga, ray pfeifer, and luis alvarez. Those heroes showed courage beyond measure, not only by running toward danger that day, but by giving their last days to fight for all harmed on 9 11. We are blessed with t