9/11 victims bill OK’d by House, goes to Senate

By Matthew Daly The Associated Press

5 years ago

Entertainer and activist Jon Stewart, speaks at a news conference on behalf of 9/11 victims and ... — Entertainer and activist Jon Stewart, speaks at a news conference on behalf of 9/11 victims and families, Friday, July 12, 2019, at the Capitol in Washington. The House is expected to approve a bill Friday ensuring that a victims’ compensation fund for the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money. (AP Photo/Matthew Daly)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a news conference on behalf of 9/11 victims and families, Friday, July 12, 2019, at the Capitol in Washington. The House is expected to approve a bill Friday ensuring that a victims’ compensation fund for the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money. Entertainer and activist Jon Stewart, listens at left. (AP Photo/Matthew Daly)

Entertainer and activist Jon Stewart lends his support to firefighters, first responders and survivors of the September 11 terror attacks at a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee as it considers permanent authorization of the Victim Compensation Fund, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON — The House has overwhelmingly approved a bill ensuring that a victims compensation fund for the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money.

The 402-12 vote Friday sends the bill to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to call it up before the August recess.

Lawmakers from both parties hailed the House vote, which comes a month after comedian Jon Stewart sharply criticized Congress for failing to act. Stewart, a longtime advocate for 9/11 responders, told lawmakers they were showing “disrespect” to first responders now suffering from respiratory ailments and other illnesses as a result of their recovery work at the former World Trade Center site in New York City.

Stewart said Friday that replenishing the victims fund was “necessary, urgent and morally right.”