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A House of Representatives panel approved a bill Tuesday that would provide long-term health care and compensation for those sickened from the September 11th terrorist attacks.
Passed by a vote of 25-8, the James Zadroga Health and Compensation Act, named for a city police officer who died in 2006 from an illness resulting from his work in Lower Manhattan, would offer continuing health care to the thousands of workers and residents who developed cancers and other illnesses.
Three Republicans voted for the $11 billion bill, which has been languishing for years in Congress.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement, "I look forward to passage by the full House and to working with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the Senate sponsor, and Senator [Charles] Schumer on moving this bill in the Senate in the near future."
New York politicians have been pushing for the measure as a supplement to the city's $575 million settlement offer, which still needs to be approved by 95 percent of the 10,000 sick workers involved in the suit.
Representative Carolyn Maloney said in a statement that the bill will next be brought up before the full House Energy and Commerce Committee.
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