"
If you’d asked Mariama, Nate, and Jamie what they might have had in common in early 2001, they probably wouldn’t have imagined much. But after the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, Mariama — a pregnant mother of two — came home to find her Manhattan apartment covered in a thick coat of ash. Nate, a 20-year-old service member, worked to recover and bury those killed at the Pentagon. Jamie, a 19-year-old volunteer with Sayville Ambulance, spent weeks cleaning up at Ground Zero. Now, all three are suffering from 9/11-related health conditions. We welcomed Mariama, Nate, and Jamie to Washington in February for a news conference announcing our bipartisan legislation to address the impending World Trade Center Health Program funding shortfall...In 2015, the health program was reauthorized until 2090. Unfortunately, the formula used to calculate how much money would be needed to care for all exposed will not keep pace with rising costs. From 2019 to 2022, for example, health care providers’ costs for everything from labor and pharmaceuticals to supplies and services grew 16% to 25%...By eliminating the funding shortfall and expanding eligibility to the excluded Pentagon and Shanksville first responders, we can honor our commitment to our fellow Americans. And in so doing, we can prove that “never forget” is not just a slogan. It is a promise — to care for these 9/11 responders and survivors for as long as they may be suffering.
"
