A Fallen Hero - Video Inside

DOJ: Don't Blame Whitman for 9/11 Speech

http://www.fool.com/news/associated-press/2007/12/10/doj-dont-blame-whitman-for-911-speech.aspx

By Associated Press December 10, 2007

A government lawyer urged a federal appeals panel Monday to find that former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman cannot be held liable for telling residents near the World Trade Center site that the air was safe to breathe after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Department of Justice attorney Alisa Klein said that holding Whitman liable will set a dangerous precedent in future disasters: "The consequence would be a default to silence. If you speak, you will be potentially held liable. Then the clear message for government officials is to say nothing."

Residents, students and workers in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn filed the lawsuit, saying they were exposed to hazardous dust and debris from the fallen twin towers after Sept. 11. They say Whitman should be forced to pay damages to properly clean homes, schools and businesses and be forced to create a fund for medical monitoring of victims, some of whom claim they suffer from asthma, lung disease and other ailments.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts in Manhattan refused to dismiss Whitman as a defendant, calling the actions of the former New Jersey governor "conscience-shocking."

"No reasonable person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws," Batts wrote.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case Monday.

The EPA's Office of the Inspector General said the agency did not have data and information to support statements made in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks that the air was safe to breathe.

The EPA's internal watchdog concluded that the agency, at the urging of White House officials, gave misleading assurances that there was no health risk from the dust in the air after the towers' collapse.

The lawyers and judges on the panel agreed that holding a member of the president's cabinet personally liable was unprecedented.

Still, Judge Jon Newman said there was a question of accountability.

"There's an important government interest in a false reassurance (to the public) _ seems to be what you are saying," he told Klein.

The appeals court declined to immediately rule.
 
Gold9472 said:
Ex-Giant George Martin takes 9/11 walk

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2007/12/10/2007-12-10_exgiant_george_martin_takes_911_walk.html

BY OWEN MORITZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, December 10th 2007, 4:00 AM

Former Giant George Martin at the beginning of his 3,200-mile 'Journey for 9/11' on the George Washington Bridge last September. Albans/News

Former Giant George Martin at the beginning of his 3,200-mile 'Journey for 9/11' on the George Washington Bridge last September.

Ex-Giant lineman George Martin is tackling some unexpected danger in the back hills of Virginia and Tennessee on his coast-to-coast walk to raise millions for ailing 9/11 first responders: Dogs - and lots of them.

The Giants' retired co-captain said he came across "an inherent canine danger" as he approached the Tennessee border.

"Dogs are everywhere, and apparently leash laws here are as scarce as dental coverage," he joked.

No number of vicious dogs will deter him from his goal of raising $10 million for 9/11 heroic first responders, however.

"There are thousands of true national heroes of 9/11 who are now suffering medically," he said. "And I believe we owe them our support for helping our nation survive and heal after such a horrific tragedy."

Martin, 54, is walking up to 30 miles a day on his 3,200-mile journey. The trip began in September at the George Washington Bridge and will end at the Golden Gate Bridge by early March.

And while Martin says most of the locals along the way treat him kindly, some at first look at the 6-foot-5, 260-pound former defensive end with suspicion.

"Despite the pleasant warnings that we might be viewed as an oddity in this region of the country," Martin said, "we have actually grown accustomed to being stared at by the locals as though we were escapees from Roswell's Area 51."

He estimates his walk has raised $1.5 million so far. The figures are promised to be matched by medical institutions and corporate supporters.

Martin's route can be tracked online at www.ajourneyfor911.info.
Click to expand...
Have you met this guy, Jon? Seems like you would have, bein as how this guy seems to be in the same corner as us...
 
Familiar...

simuvac said:
This is the Teflon White House, Jon. Nothing sticks to them. Nothing.
Click to expand...

Didn't Jon recently explain this same thing to me on a "Hillary's camp" thread? Are we at the nexus of the vortex yet, or what?

Time... space... reality... truth... you have entered a shadowy world-- known simply as... the Twilight Zone...
 
Christie Whitman lied about Ground Zero air quality, 9/11 victims' lawyers say

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/11/2007-12-11_christie_whitman_lied_about_ground_zero_.html

BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, December 11th 2007, 4:00 AM

Christie Whitman lied about air quality after the 9/11 attacks and should have to pay for medical monitoring and a cleanup, lawyers for lower Manhattan residents told an appeals court Monday.

The lawyers urged a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court decision declaring the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency can be held personally responsible for her deceptive comments.

Five days after the attacks, Whitman told reporters, "The good news continues to be that air samples we have taken have all been at levels that cause no concern."

In their class-action suit, residents, workers and students living around Ground Zero say they relied on Whitman's comments in deciding whether to return to an area coated with dust from the twin towers' collapse.

"If she had not said this, they probably would have made their own decision," Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) said after the hearing. "She was telling people it was safe when she knew damn well it wasn't."

Manhattan Federal Court Judge Deborah Batts suggested in a February 2006 ruling that Whitman's comments were irresponsible.

A Justice Department lawyer warned the appeals panel that if Whitman can be held personally responsible, public officials will remain mum after future disasters.

"The consequence would be a default to silence," lawyer Alisa Klein said. "If you speak, you will be potentially held liable. Then the clear message for government officials is to say nothing."
 
WHITMAN: CUT ME OUT OF 9/11 SUIT

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12112007/news/regionalnews/whitman__cut_me_out_of_9_11_suit_966302.htm

By KATI CORNELL

December 11, 2007 -- Former EPA chief Christie Todd Whitman is asking a federal appeals court to give her a pass for downplaying post-9/11 dangers from toxic dust near the World Trade Center site - and to remove her name from a lawsuit by downtown residents and workers.

Lawyers for Whitman yesterday argued that holding her personally liable for misleading the public about the air quality in the wake of the terror attacks in an attempt to prevent panic would gag public officials in times of crisis.

It would send the message that "if you speak, you will be potentially held liable. Then the clear message for government officials is to say nothing," lawyer Alisa Klein said at a hearing in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

But lawyers for lower Manhattan residents, their children and workers said silence would have been far better than Whitman's false assurances.

Last year, Manhattan federal Judge Deborah Batts ruled Whitman is a rightful defendant in the suit, calling her 9/11 response "conscience-shocking."
 
Government's Post-9/11 Actions Questioned

http://www.nysun.com/article/67846

By SARAH PORTLOCK
Special to the Sun
December 11, 2007

A federal appellate judge questioned the government's accountability with respect to air quality in Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, during oral arguments yesterday in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

The arguments before a panel of federal judges focused on whether a former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman, should be held liable for saying the air was safe in Lower Manhattan.

An attorney for the federal government, Alisa Klein, said holding Ms. Whitman liable would encourage other officials to be silent in the wake of future emergencies.

"If government officials could be made personally liable, the consequence would be a default to silence," Ms. Klein said. "If you speak, you will be potentially held liable. Then the clear message for government officials is to say nothing."

That point did not seem to impress one of the judges on the panel, Jon Newman.

"There's an important government interest in a false reassurance, seems to be what you are saying," Judge Newman said.

"There may be," Ms. Klein responded.

In the weeks following September 11, Ms. Whitman maintained the air was not safe at ground zero, but was fine in surrounding areas. Scientists with the EPA have said they still do not have conclusive data to support those statements. Rep. Jarold Nadler, a Democrat of Manhattan whose congressional district includes Lower Manhattan, attended the oral arguments and said later that given a choice of lies or silence from the federal government, he would prefer silence.

"If Christine Todd Whitman had said nothing, people would have used their own sense of self-preservation to make decisions for themselves to keep free from harm," Mr. Nadler said. "People trusted the government, and by extension may have made decisions that put themselves in harms' way."

In April, a separate panel of judges dismissed a similar lawsuit brought by first-responders who cleaned up the site in the months after the attacks. An attorney for the residents, Sherrie Savett, argued that this case was different because the clean-up workers inherently knew of their dangerous job conditions.

The appeals court did not immediately issue a ruling yesterday.
 
Court weighs 9/11 lawsuit

http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Court_weighs_911_lawsuit/11048.html

By Amy Zimmer / metro new york
DEC 11, 2007

Lower manhattan. A federal appeals court heard arguments yesterday on whether former Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman can be sued for allegedly false statements about air quality after 9/11.

Last year, Judge Deborah Batts said Whitman’s actions rose to the level of “shocking the conscience,” and ruled that the case filed by a group of Lower Manhattan residents, students and office workers should move forward.

The plaintiffs claim Whitman and the EPA failed to follow federal laws mandating they take responsibility for the cleanup of hazardous substances in buildings and homes by delegating that to the city, which was ill-equipped for such a project. They want Whitman to pony up for the area’s cleanup and fund a medical monitoring program for those exposed to 9/11-related toxic dust — a move that would bankrupt her.

Whitman’s statements were made with “reckless indifference to the truth,” the plaintiffs’ lawyer Sherrie Savett told the judges. “The EPA evacuated and professionally cleaned their own office at 290 Broadway, but knowingly led residents, students and office workers into the snake pit.”

Savett acknowledged that the remedy being sought was without precedent, but so were the circumstances, she said.

Dept. of Justice attorney Alisa Klein said holding Whitman liable will set a dangerous precedent: “The consequence would be a default to silence. If you speak, you will be potentially held liable. Then the clear message for government officials is to say nothing.”

A different federal judge granted Whitman immunity in a lawsuit filed by Ground Zero recovery workers (who are appealing).

U.S Rep. Jerrold Nadler said after the hearing the legal issues were different in that case where the government had a “competing consideration” to get the cleanup completed.

A decision is expected in a few weeks.
 
Closing Arguments in Case Against the Former Head of the EPA

http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/90203

By Fred Mogul

NEW YORK, NY December 10, 2007 —A federal appeals court heard arguments today about whether former Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman can be sued for her actions following the World Trade Center Attacks. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

A lower court ruled that Whitman’s statements about post-9/11 air quality were quote,“conscience-shocking,” and amounted to her violating the due-process rights of residents, office workers and students in Lower Manhattan. The appeals panel, however, questioned the legal claim, with Judge Jon Newman asking one of the lawyers, “Even if you’re right, how does the head of an agency become liable to pay damages?” Plaintiffs Attorney Sherrie Savett said a high-level official should be as liable as a police officer in a brutality claim.

When Newman pointed out there was no precedent for an official being held liable in a large class-action suit, Savett said there was no precedent similar to 9/11. For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.
 
Awaiting Decision of 9/11 Panel

http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/90232

By Fred Mogul

NEW YORK, NY December 11, 2007 —A federal appeals panel will decide whether the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency Christie Whitman can be held liable in a lawsuit against her. Whitman is accused of knowingly misleading the public when she said residents, workers and students could return to lower Manhattan. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

At issue is whether a governmental official can be held financially liable for false statements, even if plaintiffs could prove those statements were intentionally misleading. Justice Department attorneys argued that if plaintiffs were allowed to sue federal officials in emergency situations, those officials would remain silent rather than risk misinforming the public.

Appeals Judge Jon Newman challenged them, asking if that meant the government had a legitimate interest in providing false assurance to the public. Newman also questioned the plaintiffs claim, saying it would be unprecedented to make an individual official liable for damages from a whole class. For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.
 
Students try to help 9/11 responders

http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/local/index.ssf?/base/news-8/119744924150080.xml&coll=8

By Jessica Beym
[email protected]
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

MONROE TWP. A group of Williamstown Middle School students is trying to raise money and awareness for the volunteers who responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and are now suffering illnesses from breathing in toxins at the site.

Fifth-grade teacher Doris Freeman said the students planned to spend Monday night outside the school's gym where a student-faculty basketball game was to take place to spread the word about their cause.

The students made a PowerPoint presentation filled with statistics about the terrorist attacks and how it affected the first-responder volunteers.

"I heard on the radio one morning that one responder's house was going up for foreclosure and he was going to be homeless because he's backed up with medical bills because he's so sick," Freeman said. "So I talked to the class, and we decided to do some research. I didn't know there were so many responders in the same positions financially and healthwise."

Freeman, a language arts and math teacher, said their effort is just getting started. Any more they raise will be donated to the Feel Good Foundation, which helps the sick Sept. 11 responders.

The students also plan to start a collection for items needed by the families of the responders, Freeman said, including things such as socks, shampoo, lotion.

The project has also served as a way to educate the fifth-graders about the Sept. 11 attacks, Freeman said.

"They don't know too much about 9-11 because they were only 3 when it happened," she said. "They thought we were attacked by another country."

The students will be showing their presentation at Williamstown High School on Tuckahoe Road Thursday night. To make a donation directly, visit www.fealgoodfoundation.com.
 
Millstone businessman supports 9/11 workers
Peter Grandich urges community to help sick, dying responders

http://tritown.gmnews.com/news/2007/1213/Front_Page/040.html

12/12/2007

MILLSTONE - Around the holidays, it's not unusual for people to get the urge to give something to a worthy cause.

When Millstone Township's Peter Grandich took a few moments this holiday season to reflect on all he has been blessed with, he, too, felt the desire to help others who are less fortunate.

During his search to find a cause he could dedicate himself to, Grandich came across a group of people who gave of themselves to help others only to face sickness and death as a result - the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center first responders.

Grandich learned of their plight from the Long Island-based FealGood Foundation, and immediately wanted to help.

"It's an American tragedy that has gripped my heart," Grandich said. "Of the 40,000 people who responded to Ground Zero after the attacks, 70 percent, or 33,000, are sick or dying as a result of their service.

"We are talking about thousands of EMTs (emergency medical technicians), EMS (emergency medical service) workers, police, fire, military, construction workers and volunteers from all over the country who now suffer from breathing and lung ailments, post-traumatic stress disorder, organ failure and other horrific physical and mental illnesses," he said. Grandich pointed out that many of these first responders can no longer work, cannot pay medical bills, and are at risk of losing everything at a time when their primary concern should be staying alive.

John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation, said, "These people risked their lives without prejudice. There is no money in the world that is going to save their lives, but we can give them a little compassion and respect. We give them a safety and support system and give them hope."

Feal is a 9/11 first responder. He is one of the many injured at what he calls "The Pile." Feal had to have a foot amputated and underwent months of therapy to recover from the ordeal. Like many 9/11 responders, he also suffers from breathing ailments as a result of his work at the site and can no longer work.

Yet, in 2005, he started the FealGood Foundation to help those who are so much worse off than he is. Although he may no longer be able to work a job, Feal has made it his daily duty to help other survivors and to advocate on their behalf. He even donated a kidney to another first responder - a man he had never met - whose kidneys failed because of his 9/11 service.

"In 2001, on Sept. 11, everybody was patriotic and everybody wanted to help," Feal said. "You don't need a plane to hit a building to be compassionate."

Grandich, the founder of Trinity Financial, Sports and Entertainment Management, Wall Township, has committed to putting his efforts and resources behind Feal's group.

"As an American and a native New Yorker, I'm extremely upset that the true heroes of America's greatest single tragedy are being totally discarded and left to literally die," Grandich said. "And, despite this truly appalling occurrence, not one of them has been known to say if they had to do it all over again, they wouldn't. That's beyond any call of duty and deserving of every American's immediate attention and help."

Grandich has made a donation to the organization and has also spent the past several weeks recruiting friends and business associates to join him, including several athletes who are on his company's advisory board.

"Trinity Financial has two separate divisions - one that assists the average American and one to serve the unique needs of professional athletes," he said. "So, we have been blessed to have many athletes associated with the firm, and each of those men is happy to help the FealGood Foundation in whatever ways they can."

Former New York Jets defensive lineman Joe Klecko said people usually look up to football players and call them heroes.

"We're not heroes," he said. "The real heroes are the men and women who spent months sifting through the rubble to find survivors and victims. The real heroes are the police and fire and military who put their lives on the line for our safety every day. We owe them a debt of gratitude and I am happy to lend my name to the effort."

Another member of Grandich's advisory board who has pledged to support FealGood is Lee Rouson, a member of the New York Giants two Super Bowl championship teams.

"Helping others was a major focus from day one at Trinity Financial," said Rouson, who co-founded the company with Grandich. "The Bible tells us 'Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.' The 9/11 responders have done so and are deserving of our government and its people to help them now for helping us in our time of need."

Grandich said he hopes stirring up support for Feal's nonprofit will convince more people to step forward for the 9/11 responders with donations of money, Christmas toys, pro bono services and organ donations.

"They helped America without even questioning if it was in their best interest," Grandich said. "Now it's time for America to help them."

Those who would like to help the Feal- Good Foundation may send donations to FealGood Foundation, 144 Shenandoah Blvd., Nesconset, NY 11767.

To learn more about the organization, visit www.FealGoodFoundation.com.

For more information, contact Peter Grandich at (732) 642-3992 or e-mail him through at www.TrinityFSEM.com.
 
Lawmaker Pushes For Those Killed From 9/11-Related Illnesses

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=203&aid=76523

December 12, 2007

The fight to honor first responders killed from toxic September 11th dust continues.

State Senator Eric Adams met with top city officials Wednesday afternoon to propose legislation that would require the medical examiner to list 9/11 as the cause of death on the death certificates of workers who died from illnesses developed after the attacks.

"The most important message we want to send for the family members of 9/11 is that their loved ones were there for us when we needed them and we're going to be there for them," said Adams.

"We believe that the 9/11 emergency responders are heroes and that their illnesses and their deaths that have occurred, and unfortunately the many that will occur in the future, are related to 9/11," said civil rights attorney Norman Siegel.

The city does not support Adams' plan. It does, however, want to honor fallen workers.

Adams says he'll hold off on introducing his legislation while discussions on the matter take place.
 
Federal Government To Scrap Center For Those With 9/11 Health Issues

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=203&aid=76592

December 14, 2007

The federal government's decision to cancels plans for a national processing center dealing with health problems stemming from the September 11th terrorist attacks has local lawmakers demanding answers.

The Department of Health and Human Services filed paperwork Thursday scrapping plans to hire a company to set up the center, saying it just doesn't have money to cover the $165 million cost of the project.

The center was designed to improve various September 11th-related health programs and help victims living outside of the New York area find coverage.

Five lawmakers, including Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, sent a letter to the head of HHS asking him to further explain the move. A noon protest is scheduled for Saturday near the World Trade Center site.
 
NY lawmakers rally at ground zero against halting 9/11 funding

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--attacks-health1215dec15,0,2612369.story

3:05 PM EST, December 15, 2007

NEW YORK - New York lawmakers say the federal government's plan to stop health monitoring for ground zero workers across the country is unfair and misguided.

New York's congressional delegation and some ailing workers stood outside the World Trade Center site Saturday to protest this week's decision to not fund screening of workers outside New York City.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services filed paperwork this week canceling plans to pay a company to medically screen those who got sick after working in the toxic rubble of the trade center.

The government said the program could cost far more money than Congress has provided. U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., on Saturday said of the explanation: "That takes a lot of chutzpah."
 
National 9/11 health care plan halted

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nywtc1216,0,3356207.story

BY ANDREW STRICKLER | [email protected]
8:06 PM EST, December 15, 2007

A decision by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halt a plan to create a national Sept. 11th health program could cripple the effort to help sick workers living outside of New York, state officials said Saturday.

"This is no time to say 'no' to first responders who have now retired and moved to warmer climates for their health," Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said at a midday news conference outside the PATH station at the World Trade Center site. "This was an unfair, misguided decision."

Citing confusion among potential bidders and expected cost overruns, CDC officials said Thursday the agency was halting the process of gathering proposals to create a World Trade Center Business Process Center.

The federally funded center would reimburse doctors treating people who traveled to assist in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks on the trade center, as well as first responders who then lived in the New York metropolitan area and later moved away. The program also would gather data about 9/11-related illnesses.

Maloney and other members of New York state's congressional delegation said the CDC showed bad faith in its handling of the program when it pulled the plug before the proposal process was complete.

"If there is confusion with the proposal, you amend the proposal," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).

The contract had aimed to organize and improve various Sept. 11 health programs and provide pharmacy benefits. Health officials feared the work could cost as much as $165 million, far more than the $52 million Congress had provided.

"Obviously, we had a big gap that made the contract unreasonable," Alan Kotch, the CDC's director of procurement and grants, told The Associated Press. He said federal officials would go back to the drawing board to make sure they get "the best possible product" that is realistic.

Maloney and Nadler characterized such explanations as a smoke screen meant to obscure a Bush administration decision to kill the program before it began.A message left for a CDC spokesman was not returned yesterday.

"9/11 was an act of war, and we need to support the troops of 9/11," said Marvin Bethea, 48, of Kew Gardens Hills, a former hospital paramedic and co-founder of Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes, a nonprofit organization. Bethea has not worked since 2004 because of 9/11-related health problems, he said, and keeps in touch with other sick responders who live far from the state's health care programs.

"How can you expect them to travel when they're too sick to work?" he asked.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
 
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