by ARI PAUL
Hours after the Daily News featured 9/11 first-responders criticizing President Obama for supporting the construction of an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan but not fighting for long-term Federal funding for workers sickened from their time at Ground Zero, the Commander-in-Chief Aug. 18 officially gave the James Zadroga bill his stamp of approval.
"The President looks forward to signing the 9/11 health bill into law, once it passes both houses of Congress, to help the first-responders whose health and livelihood were devastated by the events of Sept. 11," the White House said in a statement.
The President, who supported the measure as a candidate, had stayed silent on the bill since taking office in 2009, but unions and elected officials said that Mr. Obama's endorsement of the bill would pressure Congress to pass it in September.
UFOA: 'Changes the Game'
"It kind of changes the game a little bit," said Uniformed Fire Officers Association Sergeant-at-Arms RichardAlles, who heads the union's lobbying efforts.
"We appreciate President Obama's support of this vital legislation-now it is incumbent on both houses of Congress and both parties to come together to pass this bill. Let's honor the first-responders and other survivors of 9/11 by ensuring that they get the health care they deserve," Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement.
John Feal, a leading employee activist for the measure who had written to the President last week demanding his support, said it was a good first step but that Mr. Obama should more vigorously advocate for the bill.
"While I'm happy and I applaud him for that, it's not enough," he said. "He needs to be more involved. I voted for this man. I'm not bashing him. I'm challenging him. The same fashion he did with the health-care bill he should do for the 9/11 responders."
The House of Representatives was poised to pass the bill last month, until the Democratic leadership "suspended" normal voting rules in order to bypass debate on a Republican amendment that would have barred undocumented immigrants from benefiting from the Zadroga bill, forcing the legislation to be passed with a two-thirds majority. While it had a simple majority, the bill did not achieve the required margin.
Observers said that the Democratic leadership did not want to subject its members to a vote on the subject of undocumented immigrants in an election year. Unions are now pushing the U.S. Senate to take action on the bill before the House reconvenes.
"If the Senate passes it, they have no choice but to go along," Mr. Alles said of the House.
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