Exclusive | Dem Long Island House members bragged about 9/11 health program then voted against it: GOP

The GOP roasted Democratic Reps.Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen, calling them 9/11 hypocrites for voting against a budget bill that included funding for the World Trade Center health program.The Long Island pair voted with most Democrats in a vote against federal bill HR 7148, which passed on Feb.

3 in a narrow 217-214 vote before it was signed by President Trump to end a four-day partial government shutdown.But both Suozzi and Gillen had bragged in a January press release about supporting a bipartisan spending package to “Secure Lifetime Funding for the World Trade Center Health Program,” the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee noted.Just days later, they voted against the compromise bill from the Senate that included funding for the program.“Two-Faced Tom Suozzi and Lying Laura Gillen stabbed 9/11 heroes and survivors in the back,” said NRCCC spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole.“And why? They did it to bend the knee to their extreme Party that embraces those who say America ‘deserved 9/11.’ Their vote is disqualifying, and Suozzi and Gillen will answer for it in November.”The legislation provided annual funding for the Department of War — formerly called the Defense Department — as well as the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.Dems had largely fought the Trump-backed spending plan because of a standoff over Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency that was facing growing scrutiny following the administration’s ramped up illegal immigration rounds and the Jan.24 fatal shooting of American nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.But 21 Democrats crossed party lines in support, including New Jersey Rep.

Josh Gottheimer and prominent South Carolina Rep.James Clyburn.The law funds the World Trade Center Health program, which provides medical coverage and care to 9/11 responders and survivors.In addition, the law updates the program’s formula through the year 2040 to help k...