Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday that Congress had a "moral obligation" to increase the amount of money available for 9/11 first-responders after the federal government moved to cover 58 types of cancer to the list of medical conditions that would be covered under the Zadroga Act.
The Zadroga legislation, named for NYPD Detective James Zadroga, who died in 2006 after exposure to toxic chemicals at the World Trade Center, set aside $2.775 billion to cover the medical costs of those who aided in the recovery effort. But the bill had originally excluded cancers that resulted from exposure at the site; the reversal to cover cancer-related medical costs will likely mean the fund is drained before all first-responders' expenses have been covered.
"We have young men and women in their 30s and 40s, in the peak of their life, coming down with these rare forms of blood cancers, rare diseases and a rare disease that maybe one out of 100,000 people get and three people working together would get it, working together at Ground Zero," said King to CNN. "This was wrong."
The New York lawmaker said the government and Congress failed to "do the job they were supposed to do for the heroes of 9/11" in the initial iteration of the bill by excluding cancer coverage.
"The amount of the money in the [fund], you know, has not been increased," King said. "We have to find ways to increase that fund. We have a moral obligation to stand by those who put their lives on the line, not just on 9/11, but in the days and weeks and months following 9/11."
The GOP lawmaker went on to point the finger at some of his fellow Republicans for not doing enough to fund the account for the first-responders.
"The next crisis is going to come with there not being enough money in the fund," King said. "You're right, it was taken out by people in my party. I said then and I'm saying now it was wrong. We have an absolute moral obligation. This is the same as people who have been wounded in battle. We have an obligation to them. I'm going to do all I can to make sure we get that money in over the next several years."
King was also asked about the release of a book by a retired Navy SEAL present at the raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. The book, published under a pseudonym, was not reviewed by the Pentagon, leading some to label it as a potential danger to future intelligence operations.
King echoed that concern, but said the White House started the trend of revealing information about the raid.
"To disclose anything about that incident is wrong, it tells the enemy what our tactic be and procedures are," King said. "No matter what the Navy SEAL says, that he didn't put anything sensitive in there, there has to be sensitive material there. It started with the White House last year — they should have never said anything other than Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces. Leave it at that."
