Eye Wed. vote on 9/11 fund

The prospect of Jon Stewart and a phalanx of 9/11 responders descending on Capitol Hill Tuesday to testify for a new 9/11 bill is paying off — the House Judiciary Committee is planning to vote on that bill Wednesday, the Daily News has learned.

At stake is the expiring 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, which is running out of money and has had to slash payouts to ailing responders and survivors by more than half.

Stewart and numerous responders and other officials are making the case for extending that fund Tuesday in a high-profile hearing before the Judiciary Committee, hoping to build on work they have been doing more quietly for months, visiting the offices of hundreds of members of Congress.

“I think the efforts of Jon Stewart, the responders and survivors who have been working the halls are all coming to fruition,” said Ben Chevat, the head of 9/11 advocacy group Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act. “I think that there’s just general acceptance from Democrats and Republicans that this has to get done and it is getting done.”

Stewart’s testimony is sure to attract the cameras, but the bigger moment for the legislation will be Wednesday’s markup in the House Judiciary Committee, where members will get a chance to make changes or raise objections to the legislation.

If it goes well, as sources tell The News they think it will, it would send a message that Congress can still function in a bipartisan fashion, and in fact may be functioning better than it ever has when it comes to 9/11 responders. Previous bills have faced daunting obstacles in getting passed.