CBS News 6/24/19: Mitch McConnell to Meet with First Responders About 9/11 Bill

Mitch McConnell to meet with 9/11 first responders after blistering Capitol Hill testimony

By Emily Tillett

Updated on: June 24, 2019 / 8:59 AM / CBS News

After previously claiming former Daily Show host Jon Stewart was “all bent out of shape” about the need to reauthorize the  9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appears to be changing his tune. The top Senate Republican is now slated to meet face-to-face with members of the first responders community to discuss the need to provide vital health care benefits to those who saved thousands during the attacks on September 11, 2001.

John Feal, a 9/11 recovery worker and the founder of the FealGood Foundation, confirmed to CBS News that McConnell has agreed to meet with a group of first responders to discuss the need to reauthorize the legislation first established nine years ago to help those with illnesses related to the 2001 terror attacks. The legislation has been brought back to the forefront after Stewart delivered a blistering rebuke of Congressional inaction on the measure just as the fund is running short of money.

Asked what he had hoped to accomplish with the meeting, Feal told CBS News: “To let him know we want our legislation refunded and extended in the near future and to sense our urgency and then be left alone.” He later said, “So he is either on board or he gets a street fight.”

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