Nearly all of N.Y. congressional delegation demands Trump administration restore 9/11 health funds to FDNY
Michael McAuliff, Chris Sommerfeldt
In a rare show of bipartisanship, nearly all members of New York’s congressional delegation joined Thursday in demanding that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin “immediately" restore millions of dollars that the Trump administration has withheld from the FDNY’s 9/11 health care program.
The unusual call for action came in a letter to Mnuchin signed by all of the delegation’s 21 Democratic members and five of its Republican ones — with Ithaca-area GOP Rep. Tom Reed being the only pol to opt out of the effort.
The letter came in response to reporting by the Daily News revealing that the Treasury Department has over the past four years withheld nearly $4 million from the FDNY’s World Trade Center Health Program, which bankrolls medical services for the city agency’s 9/11 survivors.
In this Sept. 11, 2001 photo, firefighters work beneath the destroyed mullions, the vertical struts which once faced the soaring outer walls of the World Trade Center towers.
In this Sept. 11, 2001 photo, firefighters work beneath the destroyed mullions, the vertical struts which once faced the soaring outer walls of the World Trade Center towers. (MARK LENNIHAN/)
Spearheaded by Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the letter says the Treasury Department’s money grab is keeping the FDNY program from providing “the medical treatment and monitoring that our 9/11 responders need and deserve.”
“We urge you to immediately direct your staff to release the full amount of these payments so that the healthcare and well-being of our nation’s heroes is not put at risk over an unconnected dispute,” the lawmakers wrote.
A spokesman for Mnuchin did not return a request for comment.
Though he didn’t offer his signature, Reed said he “wholeheartedly supports” the effort and that he only didn’t put his name on the letter because of “inaccuracies."
“There are a number of factual inaccuracies in the letter we hope are not utilized by bad actors to slow down the process and delay crucial funding from ultimately getting to our heroes,” Reed said before listing off a handful of issues already raised by Treasury officials.
Among those issues is the Treasury’s claim that it had to by law siphon the money from the FDNY program to offset some of the city’s unrelated Medicare debt.
Though they’ve refused to go on the record, Treasury officials say the cash was inadvertently stripped from the FDNY due to a bureaucratic snafu, wherein money was pulled from the 9/11 fund because its tax ID matched the tax ID for the city’s Medicare debt.
From left, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., attend a meeting with in the Capitol about funding for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund on Tuesday, June 11, 2019.
From left, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., attend a meeting with in the Capitol about funding for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. (Tom Williams/)
However, the New York politicians noted in the letter that the withholding of money has gone on for years — even though the 9/11 program’s director, Dr. David Prezant, has repeatedly asked the Treasury Department for a reason without getting one.
“While we do not take a position on that dispute,” the lawmakers wrote of the Medicare debt, "we are unanimous in our belief that under no circumstances should funds meant for 9/11 responders be caught in the crossfire.”
Besides claiming the tax ID issue factored in, Treasury officials have said they only withheld $2 million from the FDNY fund — an assessment disputed by Prezant, who maintains the fund has been deprived of at least $3.7 million.
Rep. King, who’s helped lead the charge to restore the cash to the 9/11 fund, said the Treasury Department earlier this week sent him its differing numbers in a spreadsheet that he trashed as a waste of time.
“We don’t care what happened — we know it was wrong,” King said in an interview Thursday morning. “It’s like sending somebody an analysis to say, ‘This is how we stole your money.’ It doesn’t help us to get the money back.”
At 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, five al-Qaeda hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The flight was traveling from Logan International Airport in Boston, Mass. to Los Angeles International Airport in California. Only 15 minutes into the flight, the hijackers took over and began flying the plane directly to New York City.
Two planes were hijacked and crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, claiming 2,977 victims between all of the attacks that day.
While the North Tower of the World Trade Center was burning, a second hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 175, neared the South Tower of the complex.
At 9:03 a.m. local time, the second plane flew directly into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. By this time, all eyes were on the already burning North Tower of the complex as photographers were able to capture the horrid moment of impact.
Smoke, flames and debris erupt from the South Tower as United Airlines Flight 175 hits. This flight was on route from Logan International Airport in Boston, Mass. to Los Angeles International Airport in California, the same path as the other plane that struck the North Tower.
New York Daily News photographer David Handschuh captured the moment that a fireball erupted from 2 World Trade Center after United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into the south side of the building. Handschuh was injured on the scene, but survived the horrid attacks.
Another image shows the moment the second flight flew into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Twin Towers burn under the massive jet-fuel explosions of the two direct hits by hijacked airplanes.
Because of being hit lower on the building, the South Tower collapsed first after burning for 56 minutes. At 10:28 a.m., the North Tower also collapsed after burning for 102 minutes. The collapse of the North Tower caused debris to fall onto 7 World Trade Center, damaging it and causing fires before also collapsing later in the day.
As the towers came down, streets of Manhattan filled with smoke and debris as pedestrians ran away from the scene of the deadly attack. Immediately following news of the attack, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all aircraft within the continental U.S. and planes were not allowed to fly into U.S. territory for three days.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush was attending an early morning school reading event at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla. when he was told of the attacks. This iconic photo shows Bush's reaction as his Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispers into his ear informing him of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
The Statue of Liberty stands in the foreground as thick smoke billows into the sky from the area where the World Trade Center stood.
This view is from uptown Manhattan as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center burn after the terrorist attacks.
Immediately following the first plane crash, nearly every first responder rushed to the scene of the attack to help those in need. The New York City Fire Department deployed more than 200 units to the World Trade Center. Many off-duty firefighters and emergency medical technicians also helped in the efforts. Here, firefighters make their way through the rubble once both towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.
People in front of New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral react with horror as they look down Fifth Ave. toward the World Trade Center towers after two planes crashed into their upper floors.
Edward Fine covers his mouth as he walks through the debris after the collapse of one of the World Trade Center towers. The streets filled with ash and debris following the collapse of the towers, making it difficult to breathe.
Two women hold each other as they watch the World Trade Center burn following a terrorist attack on the twin skyscrapers in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.
People run away as the North Tower of World Trade Center collapses on Sept. 11, 2001. That day, 2,977 people were lost from the four highjacked plane attacks, including 246 passengers and crew.
People flood the Brooklyn Bridge in an attempt to flee a smoky Lower Manhattan following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
New York Daily News staff photographer David Handschuh is carried from the site after his leg was shattered by falling debris while he was photographing the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York.
Pedestrians wearing masks leave Lower Manhattan for safer ground after the Twin Towers collapsed.
Marcy Borders is covered in dust as she takes refuge in an office building after one of the World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York. Borders was on the street as the cloud of smoke and dust enveloped the area.
New York City firefighters hug each other during rescue operations at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Three hundred and forty-three firefighters died trying to save people during the harrowing attacks that day. Since then, 200 more have died from Ground Zero-related illnesses.
A businessman covered in dust and ash walks in the streets near the World Trade Center after the Twin Towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Later that day, President George W. Bush addresses the nation from his desk in the Oval Office about the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001. "Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts," he began the address.
This iconic photo shows Brooklyn firefighters from left, George Johnson, of Ladder 157; Dan McWilliams, of Ladder 157 and Billy Eisengrein, of Rescue 2, as they raise an American flag at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001.
Dust and debris cloud the air near the site of the World Trade Center following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Firefighters take a break at the remains of the Twin Towers after their collapse on Sept. 11, 2001. More than ten years later, One World Trade Center would finally open as well as a memorial to all of those lost due to that tragic day.
The carnage wasn't limited to New York City: flames and smoke pour from a building at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001, after a direct, devastating hit from another hijacked airplane. American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the building, killing 125 people inside the Pentagon and all 64 passengers and crew on that plane.
As the sun sets in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, smoke from Ground Zero continues to fill the sky on the worst day in New York City history.
Capt. Michael Dugan hangs an American flag from a light pole in front of the wreckage of the World Trade Center after an exhausting day on Sept. 11, 2001.
A firefighter breaks down after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed Sept. 11, 2001, after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the Twin Towers in a terrorist attack.
Four days later on Sept. 15, 2001, smoke continues to rise from the site of the World Trade Center following the deadly terrorist attacks. The site was later named Ground Zero since nothing remained but a pile of rubble.
An exhausted firefighter rests on Broadway during the search for survivors after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.
The next day, the front page of the New York Daily news read "It's War" with an image of the plane just seconds before flying into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
In the days that followed, hundreds of missing person reports were filed for those in the area during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Here, a woman looks at missing person posters on Sept. 14, 2001, on a wall near the site of the attacks.
President Bush greets New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, left, and N.Y. Gov. Pataki, right, at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey on Sept. 14, 2001. On the day of the attacks, Giuliani stated, "We will rebuild. We're going to come out of this stronger than before, politically stronger, economically stronger. The skyline will be made whole again."
A wall of dust and smoke races through streets framed by St. Paul's Chapel, left, and the Astor Building, right, as the top of one of World Trade Center towers collapses after two planes crashed into the buildings on Sept. 11, 2001.
Kent Olson and his dog, Thunder, from Lakewood, Wash. search through the rubble on Sept. 21, 2001, for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City.
New York City firefighters and a photojournalist work at the World Trade Center after two hijacked planes crashed into the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City.
Firefighters make their way south from Broadway and Fulton Street, a few blocks from the World Trade Center site, through rubble and debris on Sept. 11, 2001, after the collapse of one of the World Trade Center towers.
A satellite image of Lower Manhattan shows smoke and ash rising from the site of the World Trade Center at 11:43 a.m. on Sept. 12, 2001, in New York City.
U.S. Secret Service Agent Thomas Armas carries an injured woman to an ambulance after 1 World Trade Center collapsed.
A New York City fireman calls for 10 more rescue workers to make their way into the rubble of the World Trade Center on Sept. 14, 2001, days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
A piece of debris, possibly from one of the crashed airliners, is roped off by investigators near the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2001.
The date of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center is shown on a calendar covered in ash on a counter at the Chase Manhattan Bank on Broadway on Sept. 20, 2001, about a block from the World Trade Center site in New York.
Rubble and ash fill streets in Lower Manhattan after two hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. The planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center towers minutes apart, collapsing the 110-story buildings.
People emerge from plumes of dust as they run from the collapse of World Trade Center towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, after terrorists crashed two hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and brought down the twin 110-story towers.
Pedestrians flee the area of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan following a terrorist attack on the New York landmark on Sept. 11, 2001.
Police officers and civilians run away from New York's World Trade Center after an additional explosion rocked the buildings on Sept. 11, 2001.
