FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 1, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
CB7 Chair goes to DC for signing of Victims Compensation Fund
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.co
@QNS
Retired fi refi ghter and Community
Board 7 Chairperson Eugene Kelty
had the honor of witnessing President
Donald Trump signing of the 9/11
Victims Compensation Fund into law in
Washington, D.C. on July 29.
Th e extension of the fund will ensure
compensation for individuals injured
during the September 2001 terrorist
attacks and their aft ermath rescuing people
and removing debris under hazardous
conditions. Th e fund was slated to
expire in 2020, but the newly signed legislation
ensures the compensation for victims
through 2090.
Th e bill passed the Senate by a vote of
97 to 2. Earlier this month, the bill passed
the House of Representatives by a vote of
402-12. President Trump was joined by
Vice President Mike Pence and 9/11 fi rst
responders in the Rose Garden of the
White House as he signed the legislation
and thanked them for their services.
“It was something I never thought I
would see in my lifetime. I never thought I
would shake the hand of the president and
the vice president,” Kelty said. “I was very
proud of my union and other unions and
civilians that worked hard to get this bill
passed. I don’t think people realized that
there was a lot of people that came in from
other states to help us out during 9/11. Th e
bill wasn’t just a New York bill; the bill was
for all 50 states.”
Kelty, now a retired Battalion Chief of
FDNY Battalion 10 in Manhattan aft er
serving 39 years, is one of many 9/11 fi rst
responders who helped save lives on that
fateful day when two airplanes crashed
into the twin towers, and continued sift -
ing through the rubble everyday at Ground
Zero.
“It was a really tough time of hopelessness
in the beginning,” Kelty said. “Th ey
sent down a lot of help — therapists and
religious people came and talked to us.
Th e outpouring of people from the city
and surrounding states that came in was
just fantastic.”
In 2014, he was diagnosed with stage 4
pancreatic cancer caused by the fallout and
dust at Ground Zero.
Following radiation in January 2015 and
another visit to the doctor in March, Kelty
was scheduled to undergo surgery on April
20 to remove the tumor.
“I’m now in remission. If you’re fi ve
years of a cleared scan, they consider you
cancer-free. I got another eight months;
April 2020 will be my fi ve-year anniversary,”
Kelty said.
While going through treatment, Kelty’s
name was submitted for the 9/11 Victims
Act Compensation Act, since his illness
was diagnosed as one of the cancers that
was covered under the bill. It was a stress
reliever for Kelty not having to worry
about paying his bills or losing his home,
he said.
“But you have people of the small business,
they’re on their back with terrible
cancer. Th ey have two kids with a wife at
home … how does she go out and work
while the kids are home? Th at’s where the
9/11 bill helps because they can get money
to help them get back on their feet while
the other person who is hurt or injured is
able to recover,” Kelty said. “Th e worry that
goes, what about my wife, husband, kids, to
pay the bills … that’s why it was so important
to let people know that this bill would
help those people get to the recovery state.”
On June 11, Kelty stood in the back of
the room as Jon Stewart sat beside retired
NYPD Det. Luis Alvarez, who testifi ed in
Congress for extended funding on behalf
of fellow 9/11 fi rst responders. Alvarez, a
resident of Astoria, passed away on June
29 at the age of 53, aft er a three-year battle
with colorectal and liver cancer.
Kelty said he was proud of Alvarez for
taking a stand.
Overall, Kelty said, he is glad that the bill
was signed into law and thanked elected
offi cials such as Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and
Congressman Peter King, for their persistence
in passing the legislation.
“Working in the city of New York, I
understand that nothing gets done immediately.
I think that the physical evidence
was a tough thing for anybody to dispute
because you can see the people that were
physically there,” Kelty said. “We had gone
and visited other congresspeople in other
states and they were just fantastic. It was
a proud moment. It was indeed an honor.”
Courtesy of Maloney’s offi ce
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney talks with
NYPD Detective Luis Alvarez before he testifi
ed before Congress and died days later from
9/11-related cancer.
Maloney left out of
Trump’s bill-signing
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney was the lead author of the legislation
to fully reauthorize the 9/11 Victims
Compensation Act and wore an FDNY
turnout coat to all public appearances for
months advocating for its passage.
But when Trump signed the bill into
law on Monday morning in the White
House’s Rose Garden, Maloney was
noticeably absent.
Her representative, however, said the
absence was not Maloney’s choice.
“Th e Congresswoman did not receive
an invite to today’s bill signing, nor did
a staff member receive one on her
behalf,” a Maloney spokeswoman said.
A White House offi cial said, “All
members of Congress were invited to
today’s event.”
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a key
sponsor of the bill, had a prior commitment
preventing her attendance,
according to a spokeswoman.
Th ere were 60 9/11 fi rst responders
and their families attending the Rose
Garden signing ceremony including
the family of the late NYPD Detective
Luis Alvarez, who was laid to rest at
Immaculate Conception Church in
Astoria, in the Ditmars neighborhood
where he was raised.
“Last month, his powerful testimony
in Congress touched the heart of
our nation. A few days later, he passed
from this life into eternity,” Trump said.
“And we are all grieving by your side.
Our whole nation prays and pays tribute
to the incredible life and legacy of
Detective Alvarez, how hard he worked
and how much he suff ered.”
Courtesy of Eugene Kelty
(From l. to r.) New York City FDNY offi cers: Firefi ghter Chris Ward, Captain Mike Lyons, Captain Jack Joyce, retired, ofFDNY Battalion Chief 9; Captain
George Farinacci, vice president of the Uniform Fire Offi cers Association; and retired Battalion Chief of FDNY Battalion 10 Eugene Kelty.
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