Originally Posted by Guest

I am a retired Detective Investigator who served 26 years in the City of New York, with the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. During that time I participated in many operations that I felt made a positive impact on the community I served, none as important as the one we all undertook on that faithful day back on September 11, 2001. It is a day I will never forget for as long as I live. Words cannot describe the devastation that occurred on that day. Thousands lost their lives, families were forever changed, not just in the Police and Fire communities, but civilians as well. The one thing that emerged from this horrific day was that people pulled together to help a shocked city. People from all over the country came to Ground Zero to help with rescue and recovery efforts. I remember working alongside police officers from Florida, California, and New Jersey, all with the express purpose to give closure to the thousands that needed answers on their loved ones. I remember President Bush standing on top of a Fire Truck speaking to all of us rescue workers, thanking us for our sacrifice. We tolled for as many as 18 hours a day in the beginning, working until we were ordered to go home rest and come back. We would have worked for 24 hours if we could.
Then in January 2, 2011 The President signed the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act referred to as the “Zadroga Bill” into law. This bill would provide funding for desperately needed health monitoring for the people that worked at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pa. The Bill had a time limit of five years. Since then thousands of people have been monitored and helped thru this program. Even now we are discovering that many have been diagnosed with various types of cancers attributed to the toxins at Ground Zero. Many are being treated, many have died. I’ve learned that besides New York and New Jersey, Florida has the highest number of people enrolled in the 9/11 Health and Monitoring Program. I find it funny that in a District that has a congressman who on his website claims to have been a 30 year member of Law Enforcement, and has a son who is a Deputy Sheriff and a son in the military, that he would not be one of the FIRST to sign on to the re-authorization of this important piece of legislation. Back in October of this year I emailed the Congressman to ask this very question. I received an automated response stating that he appreciates my contacting him and he always responds to his constitutes and he would get back to me. After five weeks of waiting I went to his office on 466 to make an appointment. I met with Al Harrison who told me I wasn’t the first to come here on this issue. He was stunned to hear that I never received an email response from the Congressman. Mr. Harrison told me he would call up to Washington and find out why Mr. Nugent was not on board. I explained to him that this is a bipartisan Bill with over 246 co-sponsors. I know The Villages is passionate about getting involved in tough issues, I also know that there are people here who like me are sick from their work at Ground Zero, so I have come here to ask for support to get our Congressman Richard Nugent to do the right thing and join the other sixteen legislators from Florida and sign on to this important bill and keep the 9/11 Health and Monitoring program going