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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/04/02/2008-04-02_efforts_to_take_ca...

April 2nd, 2008 4:39 pm

Efforts to take care of sick Ground Zero workers hits a snag in Congress

By James Gordon Meek / Daily News

Congressional efforts to take care of sick Ground Zero workers hit a snag Tuesday when a powerful Republican insisted it's New York's problem alone.
California Rep. Darrell Issa, in refusing to send more money New York's way, insisted the planes that struck the twin towers weren't weapons.
"It simply was an aircraft, residue of two aircraft, and residue from the materials used to build this building," Issa said during a hearing into whether a new 9/11 victims' compensation fund should be launched.
An astounded Michael Cardozo, Mayor Bloomberg's corporation counsel, who was testifying before the panel said: "This was an attack, I believe, on the United States of America."
"It was located at Ground Zero, but it was an attack on America," Cardozo repeated.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) rushed to note that Issa backed original 9/11 funding.
"The gentleman voted for it because we had the national sense that this was not an attack on New York City, this was an attack on our country," Weiner barked.

April 3rd, 2008 2:04 am

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=11234

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04022008/news/nationalnews/zero_for_heroes__...

By Daphne Retter / New York Post

WASHINGTON - A California congressman drew the fury of New York lawmakers yesterday - after he said the feds shouldn't pay another dime to help the 9/11 emergency responders who became ill after working at Ground Zero.
"I have to ask why . . . the firefighters who went there and everyone in the City of New York needs to come to the federal government," Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican, said during a House subcommittee hearing.
"How much money has the federal government put out post-9/11, including the buckets of $10 and $20 billion we just threw at the State and the City of New York versus how much has been paid out by the City and the State of New York?" Issa asked.
"It's very simple: I can't vote for additional money for New York if I can't see why it would be appropriate to do this every single time a similar situation happens, which quite frankly includes any urban terrorist. It doesn't have to be somebody from al Qaeda. It can be someone who decides that they don't like animal testing at one of our pharmaceutical facilities."
Just minutes after a retired New York City police officer, Michael Valentin, had labored through an emotional description of the serious health problems he has endured since rushing to Ground Zero, Issa downplayed the severity of the attack.
Issa said the destruction of the World Trade Center did not involve a dirty bomb or a chemical weapon designed to make people sick.
"It simply was an aircraft, residue of the aircraft and residue of the materials used to build this building," Issa said.
Sitting nearby, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) was visibly enraged at Issa's remarks.
"The notion that this is the City of New York asking for more money because we were the point of attack on this country is absurd and insulting," Weiner fumed.
Weiner said after the hearing that Issa's comments were some of the worst "New York-bashing" he has heard on the Hill.
"I've never heard anyone speak with such contempt about our heroes as Mr. Issa did today. There was a good reason that he made his remarks and then slithered out of the committee room," Weiner said.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), who chaired the hearing, also defended the emergency responders.
"They gave up their health for the balance of their years because this country was attacked," Nadler said.
New York City Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo, who testified at the hearing, blasted Issa's statement that New York was trying to get the federal government to pick up the tab for something that should be a state and city responsibility.
"Congressman, this was I believe an attack on the United States of America. It was located at Ground Zero, but it was an attack on America," Cardozo said.
Issa spokesman Frederick Hill said his boss opposes any federal effort to continue funding the now-expired victims' fund, because the case has not been made for "which unique factors make this different" from wildfires in California or the Oklahoma City bombing in 1996, which killed 167 people.