The House passed legislation on Friday to provide $2.7 billion in compensation to the families of 9/11 victims, money that had been promised years ago but had been held up after several years of delay in Congress.
The bill is the result of a lengthy process that required the federal government to estimate how much money the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USSTF) owed 9/11 families. That fund, which compensates victims of state-sponsored terrorist acts, was started in 2015 and has paid eligible people and families $3.3 billion in three tranches: in 2017, 2018 and 2020.
Initially, more than 5,000 victims, spouses and children who had already been paid by the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund were not eligible to receive compensation from the USSTF. That led to disparities in compensation payouts for some families. Congress fixed the problem in 2019 by granting those people eligibility under the USSTF program.
9/11 PROMISE RUN: ANNUAL RACE FROM PENTAGON TO GROUND ZERO PROVIDES ‘GOD MOMENTS,’ FOUNDER SAYS
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 11: Carrie Bergonia of Pennsylvania looks over the name of her fiance, firefighter Joseph Ogren, at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013, in New York City.
(Chris Pedota-Pool/Getty Images)
While these people are now eligible, they had missed out on payments delivered in 2017 and 2018. To address that problem, Congress asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to estimate the amount owned for missing those past payments.
FILE – House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was criticized Friday for moving too slowly to approve additional 9/11 victims’ compensation. May 8, 2019, file photo.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
REFLECTING ON THE 21-YEAR COMMEMORATION OF SEPTEMBER 11
More than a year ago, in August 2021, the GAO estimated that $2.7 billion was still owed, and the bill passed today provides that amount.
During debate, Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said that Democrats had waited far too long to make good on the money still owed to 9/11 victims.
“There are potential solutions to this problem that we should have put forth earlier,” said Jordan, R-Ohio. “Unfortunately, because Chairman Nadler has declined to allow the Judiciary Committee to consider these other possibilities, we’re left with just the bill…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at FOX News : Politics…