It’s been revealed that when it enacted layoffs of personnel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Trump Administration cut more than 20% of the staff involved in the World Trade Center Health Program. Created in 2011, the World Trade Center Health Program provides medical treatment for more than 132,000 survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, first responders, and other impacted individuals many of whom are from the Hudson Valley.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both of New York, on Feb. 18 demanded U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. immediately reverse these cuts.
“To say funding for 9/11 first responders is government waste is outrageous and insulting,” Schumer said. “These brutal cuts mean layoffs for staff who have dedicated their careers to caring for our 9/11 survivors. It means delayed care for our sick first responders. It is telling 9/11 survivors that after they risked everything to protect us, we can’t support their health care needs.”
Gillibrand said, “Slashing funding and laying off workers who run this vital program will have a devastating impact on its ability to provide sick responders and survivors with the care they need. This is betrayal of our heroes who stepped up and risked their lives to put our community back together in one of our nation’s darkest hours, and we will not let it stand.”
Among those joining in the outcry were New York Attorney General Letitia James, Mario Cilento who is president of the New York State AFL-CIO, and Jim Brosi who is president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854.
In a letter to Kennedy, Schumer and Gillibrand said, “It is extremely worrisome that the Trump administration’s proposals to indiscriminately cut federal employees will have a direct impact on the quality and accessibility of care provided to those who answered the call on 9/11 and are now sick with respiratory ailments, cancer and other conditions.
“This growing population of first responders and survivors, which was just expanded by bipartisan legislation to cover additional 9/11 Military and Civilian responders to the Pentagon and Shanksville PA crash site, highlights the need for elevated staffing and funding levels, rather than a nonsensical and dangerous 20 percent staffing reduction which puts the effective functioning of this vital program at risk. It is critical that the Trump administration uphold the funding and structure of the WTCHP that has been strengthened over the years through bipartisan agreements.
“In our meetings with you prior to your confirmation as Secretary, you committed to working with Congress to ensure that 9/11 first responders and survivors continue to get the care they need. We ask that you uphold your commitment by reversing the rash and counterproductive termination of WTCHP staff and provide answers to how you will ensure continuity of quality care for WTCHP enrollees.”
