Interview - The 25-Year Fight For 9/11 Responders

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Jill Wagner (1:49)

Welcome to this edition of the Mo News Podcast, part of our special coverage of the 25th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th. In addition to the nearly 3,000 people who were killed that day, there are thousands of first responders, from firefighters to construction workers, who have died from illnesses linked to the September 11th attacks and toxic dust at Ground Zero, and thousands more who are sick. Fighting to make sure that those first responders get health care and compensation is Jon Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation, which advocates for first responders. Jon led the campaign, pressuring lawmakers to pass and renew the Zedroga 9-11 Health and Compensation Act in 2010, signed by President Obama.

That is landmark legislation providing health monitoring, compensation, and benefits to first responders, volunteers, and survivors. Feal is also the author of a new memoir, I Will Follow You Anywhere, The True Story of the 9-11 Responders Who Took on Congress. The foreword was written by Jon Stewart.

Jon Feal, thank you so much for joining us.

John Feal (2:56)

Thank you for having me, Jill, and I think we've known each other maybe close to 20 years, and you haven't aged, so God bless you.

Jill Wagner (3:04)

Either have you, Jon, so thank you for that.

John Feal (3:07)

I'm at 184 now.

Jill Wagner (3:10)

I have interviewed you countless times years ago, when I was a reporter for a local TV station in New York, and I think it was during that time period when you were traveling back and forth from Long Island to Washington DC, and you were really pushing for the Zdrogha Act. It passed, and all of these years later, you are still at it.

John Feal (3:31)

Yeah, I don't know if to take that as a compliment or something's wrong with our system, because in 2010, after six years of going back and forth to DC, we got the James Zdrogha Health and Compensation Act.

It was a five-year bill for health care and compensation. 2015, we did it again, and it was extended till 2019 on the health care side.

The compensation was only extended till 2020, but we didn't wait. We did it in 2019 Then Jon Stewart and I went back to DC in 2021 and 22 We did the burn pits for Vectra. But since then, we were fighting to get the World Trade Center Health Program fully funded for a mistake that was made in 2015 because of medical inflation. We just got that done this year in April and we got attached to the Homeland Security Bill. In between then, we've helped pass bills in Albany, New Jersey and Michigan and we're now 20 for 20 in getting legislation passed.