A compensation fund to help victims of the 9/11 attacks that was in danger of running out of cash has been saved.
The Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) covers medical costs of first responders, volunteers and survivors who were injured in the terror attacks in New York on September 11, 2001.
It’s thought around 80,000 people rushed to help those injured in the atrocities.
First responders and comedian Jon Stewart gave a standing ovation after the US Senate voted 97-2 in favor of the bill to continue compensation payouts through to 2090.
President Donald Trump is now expected to sign it.
The fund has distributed more than $7 billion to the families of those that died and those that were injured.
It was due to stop taking new claims in late 2020.
Comedian Jon Stewart gave an emotional and passionate testimony to the House Judiciary Committee last month slamming lawmakers for their lack of support for the VCF.
He said to the committee last month: “They responded in five seconds; they did their jobs. With courage grace, tenacity, humility. Eighteen years later, do yours!”
‘Honor of my life’
When the senate voted to extend the fund Stewart, the former host of The Daily Show, joined first responders in applauding the decision.
He later said, “This has been the honor of my life … We can never repay all that the 9/11 community has done for our country.
“Today, they can exhale…. There’ve been too many funerals. Too many hospices. These families deserve better,” he added, as reported by Good Morning America.
NEW: Jon Stewart on Senate passage of bill making 9/11 victims compensation fund permanent: "We can never repay all that the 9/11 community has done for our country. But we can stop penalizing them." https://t.co/A2SgWTnDtl pic.twitter.com/rfZgIpF277
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 23, 2019
So many people deserve praise for heping to save this crucial fund.
Those that lost their lives or are suffering in the aftermath of the deadly attacks should never be forgotten.
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