King, DNC committeeman Zimmerman Join on 9/11 Health Bill
Politico
Maggie Haberman
August 9, 2010
Rep. Peter King (R-LI), who has been pushing back hard on the now-famous House floor rant by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) blaming Republicans for the failure of the 9/11 health bill to pass, is now teaming up with former Hillary Clinton backer and DNC committee member Robert Zimmerman in an unusual bid to resuscitate the legislation.
Their full statement is after the jump, but the two men - both from Long Island - are basically calling on the Democrats to immediately put the bill up to a majority vote, the "standard rule," as they note, of the House.
King, it seems, is saying he'll try to work with his GOP colleagues to convince them not to introduce "hot button" amendments, such as the one stripping illegal immigrants from protection under the bill for 9/11 first responders.
But even if they can't make that happen, the Democrats should still bring the bill back for a regular vote, the pair is arguing.
It's definitely risky for King, who will anger his party, but also for Zimmerman, who has been known for a long time as a Democratic donor and DNC member. While Zimmerman has not always gone along with the party, he has tended to pick his shots sparingly.
I reported recently that Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Carolyn Maloney and Charles Rangel from the NY delegation were aligned with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in pushing for a majority vote, but House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Rep. Joe Crowley, of Queens, had wanted a suspension vote - requiring a two-thirds majority - as the group debated in a pre-vote meeting. The Democrats ultimately went with suspension, which thwarted GOP amendments but also failed to gather enough support to move the bill ahead.
Since then, the scuttling of the bill has been held up on cable TV and in editorials as an example of much-derided congressional politics writ large - with many commentators expressing disappointment that the legislation (which many hadn't heard of, in reality, before Weiner's tirade) would fail.
No New Yorker who was alive that day will ever forget the horror of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 or the extraordinary heroism of the more than 400 courageous police officers and firefighters who were killed attempting to rescue the innocent victims trapped high above in the flaming towers.
Nor should we ever forget the heroism of the police officers, firefighters and construction workers who labored tirelessly in the poisoned pit of Ground Zero in the days, weeks and months after 9/11 attempting to recover the remains of victims.
Today thousands of these brave men and women have their lungs filled with pulverized glass and their bloodstreams flowing with deadly toxins. Many have already died. Congress has an absolute moral obligation to provide assistance and sustained medical care to these brave people.
After years of discussion and negotiations, Congress was finally ready to vote during the week of July 26th on legislation (H.R. 847) to provide the needed treatment for the 9/11 first responders. There would be considerably more votes for the bill than the simple majority (218) required to pass important legislation.
At the last moment however, the House Democratic Leadership changed the rules to require a 2/3's majority rather than a simple majority. This was done to protect Democratic members from having to vote on a possible Republican amendment or motion to change the bill by preventing illegal immigrants from taking part in the 9/11 program. Thus, when H.R. 847 came to a vote in the evening of July 29th, it did not pass even though it received a strong majority of 255 votes!
-We call upon the House Democratic Leadership to bring this bill quickly back to the House floor--this time allowing it to pass under the standard rule of a simple majority.
-We call upon the House Republican Leadership to agree not to offer an amendment or a motion to recommit related to illegal immigration or any other "hot button" issue.
-If House Republicans do not make this agreement, however, we believe the Democratic Leadership has the moral obligation to allow this legislation to pass by a simple majority vote. Police officers, firefighters and construction workers should not be allowed to die because elected representatives are reluctant to cast a possibly difficult vote. It would be unconscionable not to pass lifesaving legislation when a clear majority of House members support it.
The New York Times, Newsday, Mayor Bloomberg, union leaders and 9/11 victims organizations are all calling for a simple majority vote. It is the right thing to do.