LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional deleg-
ation to support H.R. 3543, the Maloney-Nadler-Fossella 9/11 Health and
Compensation Act

WHEREAS, The Maloney-Nadler-Fossella 9/11 Health and Compensation Act
will ensure that everyone exposed to the Ground Zero toxins has a right
to be medically monitored and all who are sick as a result have a right
to treatment; build on the expertise of the Centers of Excellence, which
are currently providing high-quality care to thousands of responders and
ensuring on-going data collection and analysis; expand care to the
entire exposed community, which includes residents, area workers and
school children as well as the thousands of people from across the coun-
try who assisted with the recovery and clean-up effort; and provide
compensation for economic damages by reopening the 9/11 Victim Compen-
sation Fund; and
WHEREAS, Specifically, the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act would
establish the World Trade Center Health Program, within the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), to provide medical
monitoring and treatment for WTC-related conditions to WTC Responders
and WTC-area Residents and other non-responders, with no cost sharing;
the program will be administered by the Director of NIOSH or his desig-
nee; the bill would also establish the WTC Health Program Steering
Committee and the WTC Health Program Scientific/Technical Advisory
Committee; and
WHEREAS, Clinical Centers of Excellence provide monitoring and treat-
ment; they are FDNY, all members of the Mt. Sinai coordinated consortium
(currently Mt. Sinai, Bellevue, Queens College, SUNY Stony Brook,
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey), the WTC Environ-
mental Health Center at Bellevue Hospital, and other facilities identi-
fied by the program administrator in the future; and
WHEREAS, Coordinating Centers of Excellence collect and analyze
uniform data; coordinate outreach, and develop the medical monitoring
and treatment protocols; they are FDNY, Mt. Sinai, and the WTC Environ-
mental Health Center and Bellevue Hospital; and
WHEREAS, If a responder is determined to be eligible for monitoring
based on the monitoring eligibility criteria provided for in the bill,
then that responder has a right to medical monitoring that is paid for
by the program; once a responder is in monitoring, if a physician at a
Clinical Center of Excellence diagnoses a condition that is on the list
of presumed WTC-related health conditions in the bill and the physician
makes a clinical determination that condition, in that person, is at
least as likely as not to be related to exposure at Ground Zero, then
that responder has a right to treatment for that condition that is paid
for by the program; and
WHEREAS, Furthermore, NIOSH reviews these determinations and provides
certification of eligibility for ongoing treatment; the WTC program
administrator may add a condition to the list of presumed WTC-related
health conditions, taking into account published findings and recommen-
dations of the Clinical Centers of Excellence, with the input of the WTC
Health Program Steering Committee and the public; and
WHEREAS, In addition, if the physician diagnoses a condition that is
not on the current list of presumed conditions, and makes a clinical
determination that the condition is least as likely as not to be related
to expose at Ground Zero, then the program administrator, after review
by an independent expert physician panel, can determine if the condition
can be treated as a WTC-related condition; and

WHEREAS, The program administrator will establish a nationwide network
of providers so that eligible responders who live outside of the New
York area can reasonably access monitoring and treatment benefits near
where they live; and
WHEREAS, The program sets up the same framework for monitoring and
treatment eligibility and benefits as for responders in the New York
area, but provides for the program administrator and the WTC Environ-
mental Health Center at Bellvue Hospital to develop the appropriate
monitoring eligibility criteria and list of presumed WTC-related condi-
tions, based on scientific and clinical evidence; and
WHEREAS, In consultation with the Program Steering Committee and under
all applicable privacy protections, HHS will conduct or support research
about conditions that may be WTC-related, and about diagnosing and
treating WTC-related conditions; and
WHEREAS, NIOSH would extend and expand support for the World Trade
Center Health Registry and provide grants for the mental health needs of
individuals who are not otherwise eligible for services under this bill;
and
WHEREAS, The Maloney-Nadler-Fossella 9/11 Health and Compensation Act
will reopen the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund to provide compen-
sation for economic damages and loss for individuals who did not file
before or became ill after the original December 22, 2003 deadline; the
bill would allow for adjustment of previous awards if the Special Master
of the fund determines the medical conditions of the claimant warrants
an adjustment and amend eligibility rules so that responders to the 9/11
attacks who arrived later than the first 96 hours could be eligible if
they experienced illness or injury from their work at the site; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation be and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to urge the
New York State Congressional delegation to support H.R. 3543, the Malo-
ney-Nadler-Fossella 9/11 Health and Compensation Act; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from the State of
New York.