Before sick 9/11 recovery workers can get aid, they’ll have to prove they’re not terrorists.
A little-noticed provision in the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Law says any worker seeking financial compensation for illnesses suffered in the wake of the terror attacks must have their names run through the FBI’s terror watch list, the Huffington Post reported yesterday.
The requirement angered ailing responders.
“It’s a waste of time, money, energy and resources,” said John Feal, 44, a Long Island construction worker whose foot was crushed as he worked at Ground Zero in the days after the attack.
“The American people shouldn’t be paying for this,” he added.
The measure was slipped into legislation by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) during contentious debate in Congress, the Web site said.
“As a 9/11 first responder who lost half a foot, I find it insulting,” Feal, who runs the advocacy group The FealGood Foundation, told the New York Post.
“I think the congressman and everyone who donated money to him should be checked for terrorism.”
The news that sick rescue workers will be treated like terror suspects will soon be delivered to them in a letter from the feds, which includes the words, “Thank you for your understanding,” the Web site said.
“You are sending a letter with the word ‘terrorist’ in it to people who are sick and dying because of terrorists,” Feal said.
“They’re not going take that well.”
Sterns told the Web site that when he proposed the measure, he was concerned that some 9/11 benefits would end up going to terrorists.
“The amendment was adopted in the full Energy and Commerce Committee without opposition and it merely requires that the names of those receiving health benefits be cross-checked with the terrorist watch list to ensure that no terrorists get these benefits,” Stearns was quoted as saying.
Sterns also noted that the bill will cover not only recovery workers, but others who were downtown after 9/11.
Feal believes responders will not like the background check, but “shrug it off” and follow the law to get their benefits.
But that didn’t change his strong feeling for Sterns. “He’s a buffoon,” Feal said.