John Stewart, an American comedian and former host of the satirical show The Daily Show, gave a speech in the US Congress on the topic of financial assistance and compensation for sick firefighters and other members of the emergency services who participated in the rescue after the terrorist attack in New York on September 11, 2001.
"You should be ashamed," Stewart told members of Congress without hesitation, visibly upset that many of them didn't even show up for the House Judiciary Committee hearing on securing funding for the 11.9/XNUMX Victims Compensation Association. (VCF).
As CBS News reports, this association, which was founded nine years ago to cover the medical expenses of firefighters, police officers, ambulance personnel, Port Authority personnel and other services that participated in the rescue, is running out of money.
A large number of rescuers fell ill with cancer and chronic lung and other diseases as a result of inhaling toxic dust from the ruins of the Twin Towers, after Al-Qaeda members shot them down with planes.
Stewart called the fact that almost half of the commission members did not come to the hearing "a shame for the country" and "a stain on this institution", the Index reports.
"As I sit here, I can't help but think that this room is an incredible metaphor for what the whole process of providing health care and compensation for 9/11 rescuers has become. Behind me, a room full of 9/11 rescuers, and in front of me an almost empty Congress . Sick and dying, they came here to talk to no one," Stewart snapped.
"You should be ashamed of those who are not here, but you are not. Because there is clearly no responsibility in this hall," he added.
Stewart appealed to Congress to provide funding for the VCF for the next 70 years, so that patients would not have to worry about whether their treatment costs would be covered.
"Your indifference has cost these people their most valuable currency - time"
"None of these people want to be here," Stewart added, referring to the rescuers who came with him to Congress.
"I'm sorry if I sound angry and undiplomatic, but I'm angry. You should be too. And they're angry too, and they have every right to be. There's not a person here, not an empty chair on that stage, that hasn't tweeted, 'Never forget the heroes of 9/11, never forget their bravery, never forget what they did for this country.' So here they are! And where are they (congressmen)?" Stewart said.
"Your indifference has cost these people their most valuable currency - time," Stewart said, on the verge of tears. "And the idea that you can only give them five more years of VCF because you don't know what's going to happen in five years, I can tell you I'm pretty sure what's going to happen. A lot of these people are going to get sick and die," he added .
At the end of his emotional speech, he received a standing ovation from the audience, and the video of the speech quickly went viral on social networks.
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