Eddie—I'm back from yet another trip to D.C. and am thankful that 150,000 people have signed my petition in just a few days. We still need more support to show Congress we are not giving up until this bill is done. Please see the email below and take just one minute to add your name to my petition.
Dear MoveOn member,
My name is Jon Stewart, and I seriously need your help.
I'm down in Washington, D.C. right now and just started a petition with my friend John Feal because Congress needs to immediately authorize permanent funding for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. The Fund is running out of money as people continue to get sick and die from the health effects of the 9/11 attacks, and now families are seeing up to a 70% cut in their payments.
We've made numerous trips down to Washington, D.C. over the years to fight for 9/11 victims and their families. Even though the experience is exhausting and infuriating—emotionally and physically—it's still nothing compared to the daily pain, fear, and uncertainty faced by 9/11 responders and survivors who are in all 50 states and in 434 out of 435 congressional districts.
The number of people coming forward with illnesses and cancers related to the exposures to toxins at ground zero grows every single day. Nearly every other day, another 9/11 responder or survivor reportedly dies from a 9/11-associated cancer. As the consequences of these attacks grow, so too do the costs which are taking a significant toll on the current funding for the victims of this tragic day.
Chronic diseases such as asthma, obstructive pulmonary disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and cancer continue to plague those who were exposed to the many toxins and carcinogens on 9/11 and in the weeks and months after.
Currently, more than 45,000 people who are in the World Trade Center Health Program are suffering from at least one certified 9/11 condition caused by the toxins at ground zero, at the Pentagon and at the Shanksville crash site, and a large percentage have multiple conditions.
Sign my petition to tell Congress it is their responsibility to provide the Victim Compensation Fund with all the funding needed to make sure that 9/11 responders and survivors get the help they need and deserve.
The new bipartisan bill "Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund" may be one of the few bipartisan bills that can pass Congress this session–and we don't have time to sit around playing political games.
To be quite frank, it's embarrassing that it hasn't been done already.
This is not a partisan political issue. We will talk to anyone—anywhere, anytime—to make it clear that our loyalty is to those who sacrificed so much for their communities.
We ask so much of our nation's first responders and volunteers—from firefighters to disaster response volunteers. Let us not repay their selflessness with apathy. Sign the petition. Demand your members of Congress vote to support the bill.
Thank you.
-Jon Stewart
P.S. Watch the video interview I did with MoveOn earlier today.
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