38 Attorneys General Urge Congress to Fully Fund 9/11 Health Program

Some 135,000 people rely on the program to screen and treat illnesses related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

With remnants of the World Trade Center twin towers in the background, New York City firefighters work amid debris on Cortlandt Street after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Mark Lennihan/AP

A bipartisan group of 39 attorneys general are calling on Congress to secure long-term funding of a health care program they call a “lifeline” for people with illnesses related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In a May 19 letter to congressional leaders, the attorneys general warned that the current funding for the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program is insufficient to serve its more than 135,000 enrollees who were exposed to toxic dust and debris following the collapse of the Twin Towers.