911 Health Watch Statement on the Continuing Impact of the Chaos Secretary Kennedy Has Created at CDC and How It Is Still Impacting the WTC Health Program and Its Research on 9/11 Conditions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Benjamin Chevat
911 Health Watch
646 477 1461
Ben.Chevat@911HealthWatch.org
Statement by Benjamin Chevat, Executive Director of 911 Health Watch:
“The chaos Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy has created at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is continuing to impact the WTC Health Program and its 9/11 responders and survivors. Because of the delays he created in processing research grants, 13 million dollars of research funding mandated by the Zadroga Act is at risk of being lost.
“This will result in research being slowed and 9/11 researchers threatened with losing their jobs because of the impending funding gap his chaos created.
“This is not a question of the funds not being available. The bi-partisan New York and New Jersey delegations, led by Representatives Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Senators Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) and the rest of Congress did their jobs and made sure that the program had the funds it needed.
“With the 25th Anniversary of the attacks just days away, this is just the latest of the mistakes that even Secretary Kennedy admitted to Congress last year he has made.
“But the mistakes did not end last year, and these mistakes continue.
“After 18 months of the communication black outs, delays in care and processing certifications and staff firings, rehiring staff and firing them again, even firing the head of the program a Trump administration appointee from his first term, Dr. John Howard, we hope that that the newly appointed and confirmed CDC Director, Dr. Erica Schwartz will be able to fix this.”
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