U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday signed into law a bill that funds medical care for firefighters and other responders to the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
The five-year, US$4.3 billion measure will provide medical treatment for emergency responders sickened by toxic dust inhaled at the World Trade Center site in New York in the days following the attacks.
It also includes a health program for responders sickened by the toxic debris and establishes a victims’ compensation fund.
Victims have five years to file claims. Thousands of firefighters, police and other rescue and cleanup workers contracted respiratory problems and other illnesses from working at the World Trade Center site in the aftermath of the attacks.