By Arnie Korotkin
Manager of 9/11 list-serv
This week, the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847) reaches a major milestone — there will be a VOTE by the full House of Representatives on either Wednesday, July 28 or Thursday, July 29.
It is critical that EVERY U.S. Representative in the country HEAR FROM THEIR OWN CONSTITUENTS — the people who live in their districts — urging them to VOTE YES for HR 847, the 9/11 health bill. This bill will provide federal funding for desperately needed medical programs that treat 9/11-related illnesses for tens of thousands of 9/11 survivors and first responders, individuals who are sick as the result of their exposures to the toxic dust and smoke from this attack on our nation.
The public is urged to reach out to any and all of your family and friends who live outside of New York. Ask them to please make a call on MONDAY JULY 26 OR TUESDAY JULY 27 to urge their Representative to do the right thing and vote Yes when HR847 comes up on the House floor.
Since time is short, you may want to just phone your friends/family/contacts and to ask them to make the calls, but we also provide a Dear Friends letter below you can paste into an email, along with a brief sample message for your contacts to use when they call their Representative
Here is the Dear Friends letter:
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Dear (name of your friend or relative in districts beyond NYC),
I am writing to you to ask for your help in ensuring passage of an important bill in Congress that will protect the health of tens of thousands of people affected by the worst act of terror in our nation’s history.
As you know, 9/11 was an attack on our nation that killed nearly 3000. What you may not know is that tens of thousands of people are now sick as a result of the World Trade Center attacks from breathing in toxic fumes and dust that resulted from the collapse and burning of the Twin Towers. Some of those people were the brave responders who toiled on the “pile” in the rescue and recovery operation — they came to the WTC site from every state in the country and risked their lives to help others. Some were the civilians targeted by the terrorists — people who lived, worked or attended school in the densely populated area around the WTC, and people who were visiting NYC. Many were caught in the toxic cloud when the towers collapsed. Many were encouraged to remain in or return to heavily contaminated neighborhoods, misled by the federal government’s false assurances that the air was safe.
THIS WEEK, either on Wednesday, July 28 or Thursday July 29, the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act will come up for a vote in the House of Representatives. The public is urged to please call your representative at his/her Washington DC office and urge him/her to VOTE YES. A sample message for you to use is below.
You can do this by calling the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121 TTY: (202) 225-1904. Ask to be connected to your representative’s office. (If you do not know who your representative is, I have included instructions.)
Thank you for your much-needed help. If you want to call me for further details I can be reached at _____.
Best,
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And here is a sample message to use in making calls to your Representative:
Hello, Im (your name) and I’m a constituent of Representative _____________________. I’m a resident of (give your city, state and zip code)
I am calling to urge Representative ____ to VOTE YES ON HR 847, the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, when it comes up for a vote on the House floor this week. This bill will provide treatment for 9/11-related illnesses to survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks — downtown Manhattan residents, students, workers and visitors — as well as to the thousands of brave responders who came to their rescue. Many, including children, are sick from having breathed the toxic dust and smoke, and are struggling to regain their health.
Those who who were harmed as a result of this attack on our nation need and deserve the right kind of medical help, help that this bill will provide. Thank you.
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INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
–First, go to the House of Representatives website — www.house.gov
–Look at the upper left hand corner of the home page, and you will see a “Find your Representative” search box, where you can type in your zip code and click “go” to get the name of your representative in the House.
–Please note, sometimes you may need the extra 4 digits behind your zip, because your zip code includes more than one House district. If so, and you do not know the extra 4 digits, please use this link, where you can type in your address and get the numbers:
http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp
If you do NOT have internet access, then call the local office of the League of Women Voters and ask them to help you find your U.S. Representative.
