Put It Above Ground

Media Advisory: Event Sunday at Noon

Contacts: Joe Soldevere (Maloney), 917-536-1399
Ilan Kayatsky (Nadler), 917-757-3104

Sunday: NY Reps. to Announce Crucial Step Forward for 9/11 Health Bill

-Maloney & Nadler to Gather With 9/11 First Responders, Union Members, Lower Manhattan Residents Before Key House Vote Next Week-

New York, NY On Sunday, U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler will announce a crucial step forward for the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, legislation that would provide comprehensive health care and compensation for those who are sick because of the 9/11 attacks.

WHO: Reps. Maloney & Nadler, 9/11 first responders, members of the FealGood Foundation and other advocates, union leaders, lower Manhattan residents, and others TBA

WHAT: News conference at Ground Zero

WHEN: Sunday, March 14th
12:00 Noon (Don’t forget to move your clock forward one hour on Saturday night)

WHERE: World Trade Center PATH Station
(Vesey St. and West Broadway)
Lower Manhattan, NYC

On March 5, the New York State Chapter of the Republican National Lawyers Association will host a lunch symposium.

Below you will find information regarding registration for this premier event.

The symposium, entitled “Protecting Homeland Security - Bringing Terrorists to Justice by Means of Military Commission Tribunals”, will feature two of the most respected authorities on Homeland Security in the nation today. Lunch will be held from 12 noon to 1 p.m., with the speakers commencing at 1 p.m.

Congressman Peter King will keynote the event. A member of the United States House of Representatives, from the 3rd District of New York, Congressman King is serving his ninth term, and is the Ranking Republican Member of the House Homeland Security Committee. An internationally respected leader in the’ fight against terrorism, Representative King has a well earned reputation as both a gifted speaker and devoted advocate of American veterans and public protection.

Following Congressman King’s remarks, Senator Vincent Leibell, the Ranking Republican Member of the New York State Senate Standing Committee on Homeland Security, will address the symposium. Senator Leibell is a 28 year veteran of the New York State Legislature, representing the Senate’s 40th District. Author of numerous laws and reports on homeland security, including a resolution this month asking President Obama to reconsider the civilian trials of these terrorists, Senator Leibell is nationally respected expert on the fields of Homeland Security, Intelligence, Terrorism and Public Protection A former Navy Officer (retired Captain) and former prosecutor, Senator Leibell is also highly knowlegable in the field of military justice.

Please join us for this discussion on a very important topic.

I hope to see you on March 5, 2010

My Warmest Personal Regards,

Bob

Robert T. Farley
Chair/President
NYS Chapter - Republican National Lawyers Association

Tel: 518-986- 2037 Email: bobfarley@bobfarley.org

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

The New York State Chapter
of the Republican National Lawyers Association

Cordially Invites You to a Luncheon Symposium Entitled:

Protecting Homeland Security -
Bringing Terrorists to Justice
By Means of
Military Commission Tribunals

With Special Guests:

Representative Peter King
Ranking Republican Member
House Homeland Security Committee

and

Senator Vincent Leibell
Ranking Republican Member
NYS Senate Homeland Security Committee

at

Metropolitan Republican Club
122 East 83rd Street
New York, NY 10028
Friday, March 5, 2010
Lunch and Registration: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Formal Program 1 to 3 p.m.

RNLA Members: $13 Online or $15 at the Door
Non RNLA Members: $18 Online or $20 at the Door

To Register Please Click Here

For more information and to RSVP for pay at the door, please email
nysrnla@yahoo.com or bobfarley@bobfarley.org or nycrsvp@republicanlawyer.net

*** THIS IS NOT A FUND RAISER ***

http://www.where-to-turn.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=50613

For the past year we have been trying to give the president the benefit of the doubt.

http://www.where-to-turn.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=50254

Manhattan Elected Officials Urge U.S. Attorney General to Conduct Comprehensive Evaluation of 9/11 Trial Sites and Request Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, January 28, 2010
CONTACT:

Ilan Kayatsky (Nadler), 212-367-7350
Alex Haurek (Velzquez), 202-226-3636
Dan Weiller (Silver), 518-455-3888
Leilah Mooney (Squadron), 202-701-5209
Matthew Wing (de Blasio), 212-669-4193
Andrew Doba (Stringer), 212-669-7085
Jamie McShane (Quinn), 212-718-7124
Jake Itzkowitz (Chin), 646-300-1092

NEW YORK, N.Y. Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Congresswoman Nydia Velzquez, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Borough President Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and City Councilmember Margaret Chin sent the following letter (also attached), regarding the federal trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other accused terrorists, to United States Attorney General Eric Holder:

January 28, 2010

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

As the elected officials representing lower Manhattan, we are writing to you regarding the Administrations proposal to locate the 9/11 terror trials in downtown Manhattan.

We support the Administrations decision to bring those responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center to justice in federal civilian court, and we believe that this decision represents a victory for the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law. However, we are concerned that the Administration has not fully considered the impact that the trials would have on lower Manhattan in choosing the Moynihan Courthouse in Foley Square. Indeed, the lower Manhattan neighborhoods in which this courthouse is located are only now recovering from the physical, emotional and financial devastation caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and therefore the impacts of this trial site choice are likely to be extremely burdensome.

As such, we respectfully request that your office conduct a full and thorough examination of all potentially viable trial sites within the Southern District of New York in order to assess each sites safety and security requirements, impacts to the surrounding residential and business communities, and financial implications. Without such a full evaluation, it is impossible to determine which Southern District location choice would be optimal.

We further respectfully request a meeting with you, as soon as possible, to discuss these matters and the process by which the ultimate determination on the location of the federal criminal trials will be made.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Congressman Jerrold Nadler
Congresswoman Nydia Velzquez
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
State Senator Daniel Squadron
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio
Borough President Scott Stringer
Council Speaker Christine Quinn
Councilmember Margaret Chin

Our prayers are with the Chamberlain family.

Ethel Chamberlain, the mother of Michele Lanza who died on 9/11, passed away yesterday 

The funeral will be Tuesday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home in Tottenville, with mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady Help of Christians Church. Entombment will follow in Woodbridge (N.J.) Memorial Gardens.

Do you remember the time when people said what they meant and meant what they said? Maybe I am getting old but I am beginning to lose things in translation. Here are a few examples.  

Transparency in Government 

Vice President Biden is holding hearings on transparency in government. Sounds good right? But he is holding them behind closed doors with no media access. Am I missing something?  

Disaster Relief for Haiti 

Hundreds of millions have been donated to support the relief effort in Haiti. Sounds good right? Unfortunately only a fraction of this money will actually make it to Haiti. Even though they advertise  these appeals as Haiti Relief efforts if you read the fine print all the money goes into the organization’s general fund and is distributed or not at the discretion of the organization. There is one organization that has collected over $40 million but has only allocated a little over $10 million to Haiti Relief. The same thing happened after 9/11 and Katrina. Whatever happened to truth in advertising?  

We Got You Covered 

In the ongoing battle between wireless providers they keep attacking each other’s coverage. In a recent advertisement Luke Wilson shows a map of coverage in New York. The ad boasts coverage from Bridgeport to Hempstead to Princeton. Isn’t Bridgeport in Connecticut and the last time I checked  wasn’t Princeton in New Jersey? Maybe that’s why they are having problems or am I missing something.  

Hi I Just Moved Here and Want to Be Your Senator 

More and more you see candidates who can’t win in their home states moving to other states to run for office. Wasn’t the government set up so that states would have people that represent them not political parties? Am I the only one who thinks this is wrong?  

The Edward M Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate 

I heard on the radio that there is a $20 million earmark in the current Health Care Bill for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate at the University of Massachusetts campus in Boston. I tried to research this but despite claims of transparency (see item 1) it is still almost impossible to know what is in or not in the bill. I did find out that an earmark for this was originally placed in a Defense Bill. Either way what does this institute which will include an exact replica of the Senate floor to be built on the college campus have to do with health care or defense? 

Maybe I am just lost in translation

We were very saddened, but not surprised, by the news in late December that the US Second Circuit ruled against the ongoing efforts of “WTC Families for a Proper Burial” to force the city to move more than a million tons of WTC debris out of a city dump to an alternate site. While this is apparently not something that can be won in the courts, it can be won in the media.

Thousands of our fellow citizens vanished without a trace and to allow a garbage dump to be the final resting place for their precious remains, no matter how infinitesimal, degrades us, not them. There is no reason why this fight should be left to those who are already bearing the harshest burden of the attacks. We are ONE 9/11 Family and how we handle this will show what kind of country we are and how much power citizens have to get anything that matters done. As the saying goes, when politicians feel the heat, they see the light.

New York officials made an error in judgment in the chaos after 9/11 by not choosing a more respectful location for what was removed from the World Trade Center. So what we can do about it now? WE CAN FIX IT – as those brave workers did when they faced the unimaginable destruction of the attacks and cleared it away in record time, paying for it with their health and lives in ways that are still being revealed.

The City’s position is that “digging up the landfill simply because somebody’s loved ones might be there” is not a “sufficient reason,” that “the city made a Herculean effort to clean the debris before it was sent to the landfill,” and that “the undifferentiated dirt left does not need special handling.” YES IT DOES, because thousands of innocent Americans disappeared into that “undifferentiated dirt.”

The “debris,” as it is called, was sifted conscientiously – and still, bones and personal effects like wallets and credit cards somehow got through the filter. But that misses the point. The significance of the particles is not related to their size or visibility. Remains are remains and the respect we accord them is a measure of our humanity.

When our officials act, it is always in our name – and this is one decision that none of us would be proud to sign our names to. If we can fix it, then we must fix it, or, by default, admit to being coarse and shallow people, hiding behind coarse and shallow officials. The truth is we are a generous and idealistic society, whatever our shortcomings. If the media will simply give this matter the attention it deserves, we will find a suitable way to work it out.

We may be kidding ourselves that we are advancing as a culture, when all the latest technology seems to distract us from setting priorities. Can we imagine Native Americans behaving with such depraved indifference? In ancient Rome, withholding burial was the supreme punishment, because it extended the misery of their victims to the agony of their families. The despicable Khalid Sheik Mohammed claims we are a debauched society. The word comes from the Old French, desbauchier, for to scatter, disperse. What good is our information age if it dilutes our focus and disables our sense of control over our own government?

Whatever the actual cost of correcting this obscenity, it couldn’t come close to the savings that resulted from the astonishing around-the-clock bravery of those who cleared the catastrophic site months ahead of schedule. Just as we all share a long overdue moral obligation to care for those who were injured through their 9/11-related service, there is no getting around this obligation and we wouldn’t want to. This is one expense Americans will gladly accept.

We can all be part of the remedy. It is completely reparable if we come together and insist on the transfer before 9/11/2010. At the Twin Towers Alliance we will do our part by asking publications to reprint this piece and by always using the name Ground Hero instead of Ground Zero going forward, as was recently suggested by a 9/11 family member in an online forum. If more of us make a conscious effort to use “hero” instead of “zero,” perhaps there will be a noticeable shift in attitude and we will be reminded that there is an ongoing debt to be paid.

No one would say that moving those mortal remains out of a dump is too much trouble, but saying it costs too much money amounts to the same thing. Everything does not have a dollar sign attached and failure to act would be shameful — particularly when hundreds of those who perished died saving others. They did their duty and now we must do ours. In the aftermath of 9/11, the moral is clear: There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

(c) 2010 The Twin Towers Alliance | May Be Reprinted Without Permission

Time and time again when elected officials attempt to make a point or show the American people that they are on top of things we always hear the phrase “The Buck Stops Here”Unfortunately the buck hasn’t stopped anywhere near any of our elected officials in recent memory.

To All,

There has been a lot of craziness going on surrounding the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act so we thought that we would give our perspective.

The act has been stalled in the House Health Subcommittee since July with little or no activity.

Rep. Frank Pallone has stated that he is doing all that he can to move the bill along but he does need to take at least some of the blame for the inactivity considering that in a press release this past September 11 he stated that he will be scheduling a mark-up of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009 in the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee at the end of this month. At the same time, Pallone, who chairs the Health Subcommittee, urged all supporters of the measure to mobilize and to press other members of the subcommittee to provide enough votes for approval.

“We can start the momentum with a mark-up, but we need to generate enough support to get it voted out of the subcommittee,” said Pallone. “The emergency responders put their lives on the line when they were needed, we should respond to their needs now.”

It is now 2010 and nothing has happened.

The least he can do is co-sponsor the bill as I do not see his name on the list of co-sponsors (see below)

That being said there are plenty of others to blame including the other 103 co-sponsors and the 331 representatives that have not co-sponsored the bill.

We need to go after them to put pressure to get this bill out of committee.

I have been told that there are three reasons why there has been no movement.

Primary Reason

Orders from the top (Obama and Pelosi) have pulled all available resources and put them on the National Health Care Bill.

I have been told that there are very few resources available to work on anything else.

If this is the case it is a very sad commentary on the ways things are getting done.

Also the veil of secrecy that continues to shield activity makes it very difficult to get the real story.

Secondary Concerns

It appears that members of the subcommittee as well of other members of Congress are concerned that the bill not only covers responders but residents and workers in NYC as well.

They tend to think that this is a New York issue and not a national concern.

Our response to that is that once Christie Whitman as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (a Federal Agency) made a public statement assuring everyone that the air quality was fine in New York City shortly after 9/11 this became a Federal issue.

There is also a concern that NYC was already given $1 billion to support health claims resulting from 9/11 but has only used that money to pay lawyers to fight the claims.

Unfortunately we cannot argue this point as it is a disgrace the way the WTC Captive Insurance Corp under the guidance of Mayor Bloomberg has handled 9/11 health claims over the past 5 years. (see link below)

The final issue is that of the many undocumented workers that are also covered under the current version of the bill.

It appears that many of the members of the committee are leery about opening up a can of worms if coverage is expanded to cover this portion of the population.

To this point we really do not have an answer but one would think they would be able to work something out.

So those are the facts as we know them.

Although most of the attention has been about the first responder portion of the bill because of the way our government works there are always other things involved.

Our recommendation would be to continue to reach out to your Representative to get him or her on board.

We would also like to know why Obama and Pelosi are allowed to basically bring all other work to a halt by assigning resources to their pet projects and why hasn’t the media been all over this.

We would ask Representative Pallone to at least co-sponsor the bill to show his support.

Finally we hope that everyone realizes that this is just the first step as if we do get these issues worked out there is still the Senate version of the bill S.1334 which currently only has 3 co-sponsors which will need to be addressed.

We hope this makes things a little clearer and we will continue to support this effort and keep you updated.

Below please find some additional information on both bills.

Dennis

H.R.847
Title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to extend and improve protections and services to individuals directly impacted by the terrorist attack in New York City on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 2/4/2009) Cosponsors (103)
Related Bills: S.1334
Latest Major Action: 7/29/2009 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Discharged.
________________________________________
COSPONSORS(103), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 2/4/2009 Rep Andrews, Robert E. [NJ-1] - 5/4/2009
Rep Arcuri, Michael A. [NY-24] - 2/4/2009 Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] - 10/20/2009
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 2/10/2009 Rep Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [GA-2] - 3/5/2009
Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] - 2/4/2009 Rep Brady, Robert A. [PA-1] - 5/7/2009
Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1] - 12/15/2009 Rep Burgess, Michael C. [TX-26] - 2/4/2009
Rep Cao, Anh “Joseph” [LA-2] - 12/1/2009 Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 9/15/2009

Rep Carney, Christopher P. [PA-10] - 10/22/2009 Rep Castor, Kathy [FL-11] - 9/16/2009
Rep Christensen, Donna M. [VI] - 4/22/2009 Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] - 2/4/2009
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 4/29/2009 Rep Connolly, Gerald E. “Gerry” [VA-11] - 2/13/2009
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] - 3/31/2009 Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] - 7/31/2009
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 2/4/2009 Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 12/1/2009
Rep Dahlkemper, Kathleen A. [PA-3] - 3/26/2009 Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3] - 3/4/2009
Rep Dent, Charles W. [PA-15] - 3/5/2009 Rep Doyle, Michael F. [PA-14] - 3/5/2009
Rep Ellsworth, Brad [IN-8] - 10/20/2009 Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17] - 2/4/2009
Rep Etheridge, Bob [NC-2] - 3/26/2009 Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 7/28/2009
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 11/19/2009 Rep Garrett, Scott [NJ-5] - 5/20/2009
Rep Gonzalez, Charles A. [TX-20] - 7/28/2009 Rep Green, Gene [TX-29] - 2/10/2009
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 3/4/2009 Rep Hall, John J. [NY-19] - 2/4/2009

Rep Harman, Jane [CA-36] - 11/19/2009 Rep Higgins, Brian [NY-27] - 2/4/2009
Rep Himes, James A. [CT-4] - 2/4/2009 Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 2/4/2009
Rep Hodes, Paul W. [NH-2] - 7/9/2009 Rep Holden, Tim [PA-17] - 12/1/2009
Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] - 3/10/2009 Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 2/4/2009

Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 11/16/2009 Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3] - 9/10/2009
Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 2/4/2009
Rep Klein, Ron [FL-22] - 3/4/2009

Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 3/4/2009 Rep Lance, Leonard [NJ-7] - 2/25/2009
Rep Larson, John B. [CT-1] - 3/10/2009 Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 3/4/2009

Rep Lee, Christopher J. [NY-26] - 2/4/2009 Rep Lewis, John [GA-5] - 3/4/2009

Rep Lipinski, Daniel [IL-3] - 9/22/2009 Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] - 2/4/2009
Rep Lynch, Stephen F. [MA-9] - 12/1/2009 Rep Maffei, Daniel B. [NY-25] - 2/4/2009
Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7] - 12/2/2009 Rep Massa, Eric J. J. [NY-29] - 2/4/2009
Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] - 2/4/2009 Rep McCaul, Michael T. [TX-10] - 6/4/2009
Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4] - 12/15/2009 Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 2/4/2009
Rep McHugh, John M. [NY-23] - 2/4/2009 Rep McMahon, Michael E. [NY-13] - 2/4/2009
Rep Meeks, Gregory W. [NY-6] - 2/4/2009 Rep Murphy, Christopher S. [CT-5] - 3/10/2009
Rep Murphy, Patrick J. [PA-8] - 11/19/2009 Rep Murphy, Scott [NY-20] - 7/15/2009
Rep Murphy, Tim [PA-18] - 9/16/2009 Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 2/4/2009
Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-38] - 12/1/2009 Rep Neal, Richard E. [MA-2] - 11/19/2009
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC] - 12/1/2009 Rep Nye, Glenn C., III [VA-2] - 12/8/2009
Rep Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [NJ-8] - 2/4/2009 Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. [PR] - 3/16/2009
Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 2/4/2009 Rep Reichert, David G. [WA-8] - 12/16/2009
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 12/1/2009 Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] - 10/13/2009
Rep Sarbanes, John P. [MD-3] - 9/16/2009 Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 2/10/2009
Rep Schauer, Mark H. [MI-7] - 5/7/2009 Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13] - 7/9/2009
Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] - 2/4/2009 Rep Sestak, Joe [PA-7] - 3/12/2009

Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] - 12/1/2009 Rep Sires, Albio [NJ-13] - 9/22/2009

Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28] - 3/16/2009 Rep Smith, Christopher H. [NJ-4] - 2/10/2009
Rep Stupak, Bart [MI-1] - 9/10/2009
Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13] - 2/4/2009
Rep Thompson, Bennie G. [MS-2] - 10/13/2009 Rep Tonko, Paul D. [NY-21] - 2/4/2009
Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10] - 2/4/2009 Rep Upton, Fred [MI-6] - 11/19/2009
Rep Velazquez, Nydia M. [NY-12] - 3/24/2009 Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1] - 12/9/2009
Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] - 2/4/2009 Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 4/22/2009
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 2/4/2009

S.1334
Title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to extend and improve protections and services to individuals directly impacted by the terrorist attack in New York City on September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [NY] (introduced 6/24/2009) Cosponsors (3)
Related Bills: H.R.847
Latest Major Action: 6/24/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
________________________________________
COSPONSORS(3), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] - 6/24/2009 Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] - 6/24/2009
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] - 6/24/2009

The Rich Get Richer and the Sick Continue to Suffer

http://www.where-to-turn.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=46070