WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), on June 12 celebrated committee passage of the Never Forget the Heroes Act. Reps. Maloney, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Peter King (R-NY) introduced HR1327 on February 25, 2019. The bill currently has 312 bipartisan cosponsors, 81 of which are Republicans.

Rep. Maloney said, “We are going to make the VCF permanent because there is no other choice. We have a double moral obligation to our 9/11 first responders, survivors, and their families. First, to those who ran to save lives, putting others ahead of themselves. They were selflessly there for us – we now must be there for them. Secondly, to all those our government told it was safe to breathe the air, drink the water – go back to work and school when it wasn’t. We lied to them, and now we need to do everything we can to be there for them and make their suffering less.

“This bill is about fulfilling our promise to ‘Never Forget.’ And we won’t stop fighting until we guarantee that this program will be there for anyone and everyone who needs it.” After testifying at the June 11 House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties hearing The Need to Reauthorize the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Rep. Maloney, released the following statement:

“Today’s hearing and the testimony we heard all boils down to one point; 9/11 first responders and survivors were there for us then. Now, we need to be there for them.

“We have a moral obligation to provide support and compensation to these heroes and their families. Not only did they come to our aid when we needed them, but many are sick because they trusted the federal government when it said the air around Ground Zero was safe to breathe.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s vote in the Judiciary Committee and moving this bill forward to a full House vote soon. I will not rest until we live up to our promise to ‘Never Forget.’”