Nine days after September 11, Jon Stewart began speaking up for New York's first responders.
Twenty years later, he's not done.
Twenty years later, he's not done.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00To see these guys these firefighters these policemen and and people from all over the country literally with buckets
00:09Rebuilding
00:12That's extraordinary
00:24The official FDNY response time to 9-eleven was five seconds
00:30Five seconds
00:33That's how long it took for FDNY for NYPD for Port Authority for EMS
00:41To respond to an urgent need from the public five seconds
00:51Hundreds died in an instant
00:55Thousands more poured in
00:57To continue to fight for their brothers and sisters
01:28You
01:35When you get sick they consider it workman's comp you can't work anymore
01:40So your health insurance suddenly is cut and the workman's comp people fight you
01:45It's work related because they say well, how can we decide that your cancers are work related?
01:57You
02:09It expired in September it's soon gonna be out of money these first responders many sick with cancers and
02:14Pulmonary disease have had to travel at their own expense to Washington DC
02:18Hundreds of times to plead for our government to do the right thing
02:21I know you left the business. How do you feel he made the right move?
02:24He's fighting for people that are sick and dying and coaching me to write
02:31How do you make it a cause these guys made a cause I'm a citizen who lived in downtown, Manhattan
02:36September 11th and saw
02:38What these guys brought?
02:40at no regard for their own safety and personal health
02:44Just to help their comrades their brothers the city. I saw what they did. I saw the stability they brought without them
02:50It would have been chaos and it is I can never repay that debt
02:54I can never repay that no matter what I'm here because I believe in these guys. I'm friendly
02:58I owe them a great debt, but these are the guys doing the work
03:01I think John Stewart would have been here lobbying and helping us walk the walls whether he was a celebrity or not and
03:08While he has a title of celebrity. He's an American before that and more people
03:15More people
03:17More celebrities should embrace and emulate what he's doing
03:27Make no mistake Ray Pfeiffer died in the line of duty
03:34Because of illness in the terrible terrorist attacks of 9-eleven
03:42But more importantly
03:44Ray Pfeiffer lived in the line of duty now and forever
03:57Sick and dying they brought themselves down here to speak
04:03To no one what an incredible metaphor this room is for the entire process
04:09That getting health care and benefits for 9-eleven first responders has come to behind me a
04:18Filled room of
04:209-eleven first responders and in front of me a
04:25Nearly empty Congress shameful
04:28It's an embarrassment to the country and it is a stain on this institution
04:33And you should be ashamed of yourselves for those that aren't here, but you won't be
04:39Because accountability doesn't appear to be something that occurs in
04:44This chamber you guys know the the 9-eleven first responders bill that's been languishing in Congress for years
04:51It just passed this afternoon
04:53Secures for the first responders who rushed down to those burning towers
04:57funding through
05:002092
05:09You
05:17They responded in five seconds they did their jobs with courage grace
05:28Tenacity humility
05:3318 years later do yours
05:35Thank you