By Emi Endo
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2007 Newsday, Inc.
An ironworker, a paramedic and an attorney who believe their illnesses stem from exposure at Ground Zero plan to attend President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address tonight as guests of New York’s congressional delegation.
They are among those urging Bush to include 9/11-related health care funding when he proposes his 2008 budget.
John Sferazo of Huntington Station, an ironworker who worked at Ground Zero and attributes his reduced breathing capacity and other illnesses to 9/11, said he hoped his presence tonight will serve as a reminder of the needs of emergency responders and others.
“This tragedy took 3,000 lives and continues to take our lives today,” Sferazo, president and cofounder of Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes, said at a news conference yesterday at the World Trade Center site.
The Bush administration has released more than $50 million of $75 million in federal funding to treat first responders through the New York Fire Department and hospitals, including The Mount Sinai Medical Center and Stony Brook University Medical Center. Demand is so high that the money will run out in the next several months, said Dr. Jacqueline Moline, director of Mount Sinai’s program, which serves 19,000 patients. A Mount Sinai report found that nearly seven out of every 10 Ground Zero workers suffered lung problems.
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official said in December that the Bush administration planned to report to Congress on a long-term treatment plan in February, after Bush submits his budget.
Also attending Bush’s speech will be Ceasar Borja Jr., 21, of Bayside, whose father, former New York City Police Officer Cesar Borja, suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, a scarring of the lung, which began in 2002. “It’s really painful for me to be here, so close to where my father contracted this disease, but I am being strong ... for my father,” said the younger Borja.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who has submitted legislation pegging the cost for long-term treatment at $1.9 billion, will give a gallery pass to Borja. “We want the president and members of Congress to see the faces of those who have suffered because of our negligence in refusing to take care of the people who responded to 9/11,” she said.