Cole Urges Support for 9/11 First Responders  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) made the following remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 847, the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which was approved Wednesday by the House of Representatives.

"Mr. Speaker, long before New York City's First Responders rushed to save their fellow Americans in the fire and horror of 9/11, they came to help the people of Oklahoma City deal with the death and destruction stemming from the terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.

"The people of Oklahoma have never forgotten the help that they received in their most difficult days from the first responders of New York City and their fellow first responders from all across America. And when 9/11 occurred, Oklahoma's first responders were proud to join their fellow Americans and rush to the aid of a stricken New York City.

"Now it is our turn in this body to help all those who answered the call of duty on 9/11. They risked themselves to save others and help one of America's great cities deal with and recover from devastation of the greatest terrorist attack in our history. It is time as our greatest president said in an earlier era and in another context, 'to bind up the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan...'

"Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of H.R. 847 as amended by the United States Senate."