9/11 Responders Health Bill Will Get New Vote, Reps Vow

Lawmakers from New York promised today that the House will hold another vote on a bill to provide $7.4 billion in aid to 9/11 first responders before the month is out.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which failed to pass in the House this past July, would provide free health care and compensation payments to 9/11 rescue and recovery workers who fell ill after working in the trade center ruins.

Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler issued a joint statement today saying that House Democratic leadership has promised to bring the bill up for another vote after Congress comes back from its summer recess.

"We anticipate that the bill will be taken up the second week we are back in session and will be considered under regular order, with the expectation and belief that neither side will play politics with this vitally-important legislation," they said.

Most Republicans this summer voted against the bill, complaining that Democrats chose to bypass voting on amendments, opting instead for a process that sped up the vote but required a two-thirds majority. The measure received 255 votes, but it failed to get the two-thirds needed to pass. This time around, the bill will only need a simple majority to pass.

The New York representatives announced today that the House would take up the bill again at a press conference at Ground Zero, CBS New York reports.

"Not a single person shall participate in a 9/11 memorial event around the county, and be an elected official, and not stand up and say we are going to fight for the victims of Sept. 11," Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner reportedly said. "Every single one of them, as long as it takes. They were there for us, we're going to be for them."

Weiner erupted into a loud tirade on the House floor against his Republican colleagues last summer after the bill failed to pass.

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