Senate approves $1 billion for 9/11 victims’ health fund in spending deal

WASHINGTON — In the rush to wrap up the crucial year-end government funding bill before Christmas, Congress is wrapping up a pair of gifts for victims of 9/11, both for those alive and struggling and those who left suffering families behind.

After months of delay and partisan infighting, the $1.7 trillion spending package passed in the Senate on Thursday with last-second amendments to extend health care for 9/11 survivors and to boost compensation for the families of people who were killed in the attacks. The legislation was expected to pass Friday in the House.

Neither of the measures were in the 4,100-page bill Congress unveiled Tuesday. It took intense round-the-clock talks by New York and New Jersey senators to get the measures in.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said it should not have taken so long.

“Before the smoke even cleared on 9/11 — and before the rubble even quit burning — our first responders were on the scene at Ground Zero: firefighters, police officers, construction workers and volunteers of all kinds just trying to do their part,” he said.

The package includes a $1 billion amendment to fund the 9/11 health program, which is facing a $3 billion long-term deficit.

Schumer had been unable to attach a larger measure that would have ended the shortfall permanently, but the amendment that passed was expected to delay any crisis until at least 2027.

“This health care is lifesaving,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who still hopes to pass a larger measure. “It’s not everything we need, but it’s enough to get us started.”

The other measure was everything Schumer and Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, also a Democrat, had hoped for: $3 billion to help spouses and children of people slain on 9/11 get the same compensation as more distant relatives.

The money would go to the Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, which Republicans created in 2015, and would be attached to that year’s broader World Trade Center legislation.

The fund is a way for victims of terrorism to collect court judgments against state sponsors of terrorism. Nations such as Iran would never pay.

The money in the fund comes from seizures of assets that the Department of Justice makes against businesses caught making deals with Iran and three other sanctioned nations.

Problems arose because the fund ended up paying brothers, sisters and parents of victims more than the victims’ spouses and children. The more direct relatives had already received some compensation from the broader 9/11 aid bills and were barred from receiving the same sorts of payouts that their more distant family members could get.

A government analysis estimated that it would cost about $3 billion to level up the 5,600 or so family members affected, but the fund currently has only $85 million in assets. The bill would solve that issue.

“Families of 9/11 and other terror victims are getting long overdue justice with the bill passed today by the Senate,” said Angela Mistrulli, whose father died in the twin towers’ collapse. “During this cold holiday season, there will be a little more warmth and a lot of relief to have this years-long mistake finally corrected.”

The bill did not come without controversy. Unlike in the relief offered from the World Trade Center Victim Compensation Fund, in which attorneys are capped at earning 10% fees, lawyers who represent clients before the Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund get a 25% cut.

Before this bill, no one objected strongly because the fund was financed by criminals and the cases were difficult. But the new measure pays off judgements against terrorists with taxpayer money repurposed from unspent COVID aid, and the lawyers are in for a windfall of close to $700 million.

When news surfaced earlier this year that the terrorism fund might take precedence over the health care program, some health advocates were angered.

In the end, both groups were headed for a win, but 9/11 health advocates would have to come back to Congress in the future for a permanent fix. Schumer vowed to pass such legislation next year.