Detective who fought for 9/11 first responders dies

Earlier this month, former New York police Detective Luis Alvarez delivered a heartbreaking plea to Congress to extend the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which provides financial assistance to first responders who had developed illnesses after responding to the 2001 terrorist attacks.

On Saturday, his family confirmed that the NYPD veteran had died at 53, having succumbed to the cancer he developed years after working at Ground Zero.

Family spokesman Matt Mccauley confirmed to The Washington Post that Alvarez had died in the early hours of Saturday morning due to “9/11-related cancer.” Alvarez had developed colorectal and liver cancer in 2016.

“It is with peace and comfort, that the Alvarez family announce that Luis (Lou) Alvarez, our warrior, has gone home to our Good Lord in heaven today,” the family said in a statement. “Please remember his words, ‘Please take care of yourselves and each other.’ We told him at the end that he had won this battle by the many lives he had touched by sharing his three year battle. He was at peace with that, surrounded by family.”

Alvarez leaves behind his wife, Lanie Alvarez, and three children: David, Tyler and Ben, according to The New York Times. He is also survived by his mother, Aida, and brothers Fernando and Phil.

Alvarez’s legacy is cemented in his advocacy for his fellow first responders to 9/11, and in the legislation he helped push through the House Judiciary Committee. The bill reauthorizes money for the compensation fund until 2089, ensuring decades of support for the emergency responders and their families who continue to suffer nearly 18 years later.

The existing $7.5 billion fund is in danger of running out of funds before its current 2020 expiration date. It already has paid about $5 billion to 21,000 claimants, but as of February, 19,000 unpaid claims remain unaddressed. Officials said they would have to pay reduced claims starting Feb. 1, a situation that Rupa Bhattacharyya, the special master overseeing the funds, called “horribly unfair.”

As Alvarez’s death has reminded lawmakers, time is running out for many of these people. Congress “cannot allow Lou Alvarez to have died in vain,” bill cosponsor Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., wrote in a tribute on Twitter.

“His legacy lives on in all of us in this fight,” tweeted Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who introduced the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund renewal legislation.

Maloney told the Post earlier this month that she hopes the bill will pass the House in July. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY., said the Senate hoped to pass the bill by August after he faced direct criticism from former Daily Show host Jon Stewart over his handling of the renewal.

Sitting beside Stewart at a June 11 hearing on the eve of a scheduled 69th round of chemotherapy, Alvarez implored members of Congress to replenish the fund as thousands of responders and their families wait for assistance.

“I should not be here with you, but you made me come,” he said. “You made me come because I will not stand by and watch as my friends with cancer from 9/11 like me are valued less than anyone else because of when they get sick, they die.

“It is my goal and it is my legacy to see that you do the right thing for all 9/11 responders,” he said. The next day, Alvarez felt too disoriented to continue treatment and was placed in hospice care shortly after, The New York Times reported.

“You all said you would never forget,” Alvarez said at the hearing. “Well, I’m here to make sure that you don’t.”