NY Rep Peter King and DNC Member Zimmerman Join Efforts to Revive 9/11 Health Bill

U.S. House of Representative Peter King (R-NY) teamed up with Robert Zimmerman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to get the 9/11 health bill for Ground Zero civilian workers and first responders reintroduced by the House for a simple majority vote.

On July 29 the bill was voted down via ugly partisan posturing, which included a hissy fit by Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner:

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Note: Peter King (R-NY) and Anthony Weiner (D-NY) both voted in favor of the measure.

Immature banter by King and Weiner continued in a joint appearance for a Fox News interview:

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To pay the bill's estimated $7.4 billion cost over 10 years, the Democrats wanted to change the tax rules for international corporations engaged in the U.S. market; the GOP claimed that would be a job killing corporate tax.

Additionally, the GOP wanted to attach an amendment preventing the Democrats from using monies from the 9/11 healthcare bill to pay for illegal aliens.

The Democrats then doomed the bill by introducing it under a special procedural rule requiring a two-thirds majority vote instead of a simple majority vote.

The bill was killed in a 255-159 vote along party lines, with 243 Democrats and 12 Republicans in favor of the bill and 155 Republicans and 4 Democrats opposed.

King and Zimmerman urged the GOP not to tack on any amendments if the Democrats bring the bill back. The Democrats were also urged to move forward with the bill regardless of any promises by the Republicans.

Robert Zimmerman's cooperation with Peter King prompted Anthony Weiner to threaten to have Zimmerman ousted from the DNC. Other Democratic members calmed the angry Weiner enough for him to reconsider.

Peter King and Zimmerman are trying to get the House to reintroduce the bill before a September 8 deadline, in which Ground Zero workers must make a decision in a proposed settlement regarding federal lawsuits; read more on that here.

The 9/11 health bill, called the James Zadroga Act, was first introduced in September 2006 and named after a NYC detective that died as a result of inhaling toxic dust at Ground Zero.

After Zadroga's death, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg dishonored the detective in a transparent attempt to avoid city liability by claiming Detective Zadroga died from illegally injecting prescription drugs; medicine prescribed to him as a result of the toxic poisoning from Ground Zero.

The Zadroga family was forced to hire an independent medical examiner that easily refuted the mayor's wild claims, noting the lack of needle marks and damaged lungs. Read more, Bloomberg Dishonors 9/11 Hero.

In 2008, the NY City Council called for the expedited passage of the Zadroga Act. Click here to read more about the James Zadroga Act.

Despite the angry response(s) of Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, perhaps the bipartisan efforts of Rep. King and the DNC's Zimmerman will encourage House members to appropriately vote on the bill.

Is it too much to ask the bickering politicians to find a way to appropriately pay for it as well?

Sources, in addition to those embedded in article:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/weiner_snit_zel_cQnqdDnv9KpTJqGYqFnqVK

http://dnainfo.com/20100730/manhattan/911-health-care-bill-fails-house