Senate GOP's political opposition to 9/11 first responders bill draws criticism

Key test vote in Senate for 9/11 health bill
WASHINGTON—The Senate is set for a key test vote on a bill to aid people who became sick after being exposed to Toxins at the World Trade Center ruins following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said they were confident they had the 60 votes needed to prevail on the vote expected Wednesday after the Senate completes its work on an Arms Control treaty with Russia. But they worry that Republicans who oppose the measure could try to s...

Shepard Smith Unloads On Blockers Of 9/11 Responders Bill: 'How Do They Sleep At Night?' (VIDEO)
Shepard Smith excoriated the Senators who are holding up the so-called "Zadroga Bill" to assist 9/11 First Responders who suffer from medical problems as a result of their time at Ground Zero. The bill, which provides $7 billion for the responders, passed the House but is being held up by Republicans in the Senate. Speaking to Fox News colleague Chris Wallace on Friday, Smith asked, "How do they sleep at night after this vote on Ground Zero First Responders from 9/11? Are they going to get tha...

Shepard Smith attacks Tom Coburn for blocking 9/11 first responders bill
For the second day in a row now, Fox News' Shepard Smith used his 3 p.m. show to publicly shame specific Republicans for blocking passage of the bill that would fund healthcare for ailing 9/11 First Responders. Yesterday, Shep called out a dozen Senators who refused to come on his show and explain themselves. Today, Shep singled out Senator Tom Coburn, a conservative's conservative, who is at this point the last Republican still willing to publicly block the bill from coming to the floor. Repub...

1st Responders Press Senate Over 9/11 Health Bill
NEW YORK (CBS 2/ WCBS 880/1010 WINS) — First Responders who became sick after working at Ground Zero following the World Trade Center terror attacks were in Washington Tuesday, hoping the trip would be the last one they needed to make. Supporters were optimistic the Senate would approve a scaled-back version of the measure before the Lame Duck session ends, Jay Dow reported. A newly revised version of the bill cuts costs by a billion dollars, essentially self-funds the program, and in doin...

Key test vote in Senate for 9/11 health bill (AP)
WASHINGTON – The Senate is set for a key test vote on a bill to aid people who became sick after being exposed to Toxins at the World Trade Center ruins following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said they were confident they had the 60 votes needed to prevail on the vote expected Wednesday after the Senate completes its work on an Arms Control treaty with Russia. But they worry that Republicans who oppose the measure could try t...

Key test vote in Senate for 9/11 health bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is set for a key test vote on a bill to aid people who became sick after being exposed to Toxins at the World Trade Center ruins following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said they were confident they had the 60 votes needed to prevail on the vote expected Wednesday after the Senate completes its work on an Arms Control treaty with Russia. But they worry that Republicans who oppose the measure could tr...

OReilly On 9/11 First Responders Bill: It Will Pass, Just May Take A Little Longer
Bill O’Reilly zapped Karl Rove from Texas to The O’Reilly Factor to discuss the 9/11 ‘First Responders’ bill that’s been gripping the political media. And their verdict? It still needs more time. According to O’Reilly, “It’s chaos” as it is—so why not wait until next year? Rove mainly agreed, while reiterating the fact that Republicans have questions about the bill, especially regarding its Budget. Some of those questions might even turn in...

GOP lawmakers face criticism for opposing Sept. 11 responders bill
Reporting from Washington and New York — Congressional Republicans are coming under growing criticism for their opposition to a bill that would provide medical care for Sept. 11 attack responders and survivors, including ailing police officers and Firefighters. As advocates press for Senate approval, Republican resistance to the measure has grown increasingly untenable. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the GOP fashioned itself as the party that celebrated the heroism of the Sept. 11 workers,...

9/11 health bill passage could come tomorrow
The Senate is expected to clear a procedural hurdle Wednesday that could lead to final passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act later in the day. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has assured both New York senators a vote on the bill will occur after the Senate finishes work on the START nuclear arms treaty with Russia. That’s expected to happen either late in the afternoon or early evening Wednesday. New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand ha

Did Jon Stewart Turn the Tide on the 911 First Responders Bill?
In his last show of the year, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart took Congress and the media to task for not making the Zadroga bill a priority. Named for James Zadroga, a 911 First Responder who died in 2006 of respiratory disease, the bill would create a trust fund to cover the Health Care costs of surviving police, firemen, emergency medical technicians and clean up crews who toiled for months in the wreckage of the World Trade Center. The bill passed the House but has been stalled in the Senate du...

Jon Kyl Still Making Sorry Excuses for Not Supporting First Responders Bill
It looks like Shep Smith isn't the only person on Fox News that was shamed by Jon Stewart into getting a bit tougher on these Republicans for filibustering the First Responders bill. Chris Wallace brought up Stewart's interview with First Responders to Jon Kyl, and in response we just got more sorry excuses as to why he still would not support the bill. Last week, an incensed Jon Stewart invited 9/11 First Responders to The Daily Show to offer their thoughts on this callous behavior. “Disg...

Not Backing Down: Coburn Outlines Opposition to 9/11 Bill, Could Keep Senate In Session Through Christmas
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports: In the face of mounting criticism about his opposition to the 9/11 bill, is Sen. Tom Coburn backing down? Not exactly. The Oklahoma Republican just posted a seven-page document on his website outlining why he opposes it. “The United States of America does have an obligation to provide for those devastated by the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It is not Unpatriotic, however, to express concerns with the specific approach” of the bill,” he said

The U.S. Senate owes Ground Zero responders an immediate vote on the Zadroga health bill
New York's two U.S. senators say they have lined up the Republican votes needed to pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Great. Now all they have to do is force the measure to a vote with all deliberate speed. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand believe they've gotten commitments to support a whittled-down Compromise package from three GOP senators, enough to get the measure through the Senate and back to the House for a fresh vote. But that's an enormous amount to ge...

White House Lauds Jon Stewart for Pushing Passage of 9/11 Health Bill
Jon Stewart is seen onstage at Comedy Central's Night Of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert For Autism Education at the Beacon Theatre on October 2, 2010 in New York City. (Credit: Getty Images) During his press briefing Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that comedian Jon Stewart may well have helped breathe new life into the prospects for passage of a Health Care bill for 9/11 First Responders. Stewart last week devoted a nine-minute segment of his Comed...

Tom Coburn To Block 9/11 Responders Bill
Source: The Huffington Post Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) plans to block Legislation that would provide additional aid to cover the Health Care costs of 9/11 First Responders, one of the senator's aides told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday morning. Senate Republicans have opposed the measure, also called the Zadroga bill, first over concerns that it would take precedence over a plan to extend the Bush Tax Cuts -- a deal that has since been reached -- and now due to issues with the cost-control measu...

House Will Stay to Pass 9/11 Bill (Updated)
The House will stay in session tomorrow to pass the 9/11 health bill, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) declared this afternoon, removing one more potential obstacle to passing the measure that woudl help ailing First Responders. “My expectation is there is a high likelihood of a vote on 9/11 sometime tomorrow," Hoyer said of the ongoing effort in the Senate to pass the $6.2 billion James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. "As a result, I would be asking all of you to st...

Democrats laud Jon Stewart for pushing 9/11 responders bill (The Ticket)
Could Jon Stewart be looking at a new career as a Lobbyist? Probably not, but the Comedy Central host is winning kudos from Washington Democrats for pushing a Sept. 11 First Responders bill on the "Daily Show." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Tuesday that he hopes Stewart can help Democrats win passage of the bill, which would offer Health Care compensation to responders and their families: I think if there's the ability for that to sort of break through in our politica...

Shep Smith to Tom Coburn: I cant believe youre blocking this 9/11 health care bill
Via Mediaite, I’m paraphrasing — but only a little. Shep’s emphatically in scold mode here, not only devoting a chunk of airtime to sympathetic video of 9/11 responders complaining about the delay but taking care to put Coburn’s photo onscreen at the end of the clip as a sort of lame shame ritual. Cloture on the bill failed last week, but Schumer and Gillibrand said over the weekend that they expect tomorrow’s second attempt to succeed. Quick passage assured, then...

GOP lawmakers face criticism for opposing Sept. 11 responders bill
Reporting from Washington and New York — — Congressional Republicans are coming under growing criticism for their opposition to a bill that would provide medical care for Sept. 11 attack responders and survivors, including ailing police officers and Firefighters. As advocates press for Senate approval, Republican resistance to the measure has grown increasingly untenable. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the GOP fashioned itself as the party that celebrated the heroism of the Sept. 11 ...

WHITE HOUSE SEEKS HELP FROM JON STEWART...
Yahoo! Buzz 'If there's the ability for that to sort of break through in our political environment, there's a good chance that he can help do that,' Robert Gibbs said in his briefing. Paging Jon Stewart: The White House needs your help. Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s Press Secretary, told reporters on Tuesday that he hopes the Comedy Central host can persuade enough Republican senators to vote for a 9/11 health bill so it can head to the president’s desk. “If there's the ab...

Shep Smith Zeroes In On Tom Coburn For Opposing 9/11 First Responders Bill
Fox News' Shep Smith has been shellacking Republicans left and right for opposing the 9/11 First Responders bill, and today he zeroed in on Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) for vowing to slow down or block the bill until the next session of Congress. In this latest installment, he showed a picture of Coburn and said: He is the man who is vowing to slow this down or block it, so that the necessary funding for the illnesses of the First Responders who made it to Ground Zero to try to save lives on the d...

Tuesday Open Thread
Joining in on Jon Stewart’s outrage over the failure of the 9/11 First Responders bill today was Fox News’ Shep Smith, who asked: “How do they sleep at night?” Stewart devoted his whole show last night to gravely attacking Senate Republicans for voting against the bill, which would provide Health Care to the First Responders on September 11. Shep was equally incensed: “Who’s going to hold these people’s feet to the fire? We’re able to put a 52-stor...

Shep Smith Names Every GOPer Who Wouldn't Talk 9/11 Bill With Him
Fox News' Shep Smith is continuing to hammer Republican senators who wouldn't pass the 9/11 First Responders bill, this time calling out by name those who wouldn't appear on his show to discuss the issue. "We called a lot of Republicans today who are in office at the moment," he said Monday afternoon. "These are the ones who told us 'no': Senators Alexander, Barrasso, Cornyn, Crapo, DeMint, Enzi, Grassley, Kyl, McConnell, Sessions, Baucus, Gregg, and Inhofe. No response from Bunning, Coburn, ...

Report: Coburn Might Block 9/11 First Responders Bill
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) reportedly might block the 9/11 First Responders bill, or at least slow it down, according to Politico. Politico reports that last night Coburn said "he wouldn't allow the bill to move quickly, saying he has problems with parts of the bill and the process Democrats are employing." Though New York Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, have been predicting that the bill will pass, Coburn isn't convinced, saying on Fox News today that passage of the bi...

"Where's His Heart?" Dem Senators & First Responders Rip Coburn For Opposing 9/11 Health Bill
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports:  A group of senators from New York and New Jersey today joined with dozens of First Responders to blast Republican opposition to the 9-11 health bill as the measure’s chances of passage dim with each passing day before Christmas.  “I believe we have the votes to prevail. The only thing standing in our way is people who will try to run out the clock,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said at a Press Conference on Capitol Hill.  Schumer wa