NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — In an op-ed written for ABC News Friday morning, NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill urged Congress to increase funding for those first responders suffering from diseases caused by 9/11.
O’Neill writes the op-ed as 47 names are being added to its memorial wall at 1 Police Plaza, all victims of 9/11-related illnesses.
Fifteen police officers have died from 9/11-related illnesses in the past year alone.
O’Neill writes that while the NYPD lost 23 members in the attack itself, over 200 have died from 9/11 related diseases in the time since.
He points out that the Victims Compensation Fund, established by the James Zadroga Health and Compensation Act of 2010, is stressed and running low on funds, leading its special master to greatly reduce or deny awards.
O’Neill says that estimates in both 2010 and 2015 of funding needed were too low and that funding must be added and the act reauthorized in 2020 to continue supporting the growing number of victims of 9/11-related diseases.
O'Neill says, "The time has come to recognize that we cannot place a financial cap or temporal limit on this slow-moving human crisis. We must recognize that our estimates of the damage done were too low in both 2010 and 2015, and that the current plan to close out the fund by December 2020 is unrealistic.”
He finishes with, "Tragically, we know that the names of fallen cops from 9/11 that we will add to our Police Memorial wall on Friday, won’t be our last."
The entire op-ed can be found on ABC News here.