Mar 17, 2019 3 min read

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, happened close to a generation ago, yet people are still dying as a result.

The death toll among those who were aboard the planes, inside the Pentagon and the World Trade Center’s two towers has long been determined. The people who are dying now are those who rushed to help victims and sift through the rubble, both in New York, Washington, D.C., and at the site of the United Flight 93 crash in Shanksville. At least 15 FBI special agents who were investigating the attacks have died as a result of illnesses linked to the dust and toxins that lingered in the air for weeks afterwards. Firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers have also died or become debilitated as a result of 9/11-related illnesses.

Even as 9/11 continues to kill and impair, however, the fund that was authorized by Congress to compensate these victims is running low on money. It was announced last month that, barring some form of action by lawmakers, payments to victims from the $7.3 billion fund will be sliced in half, or even reduced by 70 percent. While acknowledging that reduced payments would be “horribly unfair,” Rupa Bhattacharyya, the administrator of the fund, told The Washington Post that “unfortunately, the law really leaves us no choice. This is the fairest way we could come up with to do it.”

The green light for the fund was first given in 2004, and it was renewed in 2010 and 2015. It is set to expire at the end of 2020. Given the apparent extent of the need, Congress urgently needs to renew and, crucially, fully fund the program so all victims are given adequate and just compensation.

Part of the reason the fund has been depleted is the number of claims being made because victims have died, or their conditions have worsened. Last year the fund paid out $1.8 billion, the largest amount in its history. The biggest payment thus far has been $4.1 million, though the average is about $240,000.

The possibility that some victims or their families will receive less than the full amount to which they are entitled is “immoral,” according to Gerard Fitzgerald, the president of the United Firefighters Association. He told the New York Daily News, “Though money doesn’t replace the victims’ lives cut short or adversely impacted by 9/11, it does help ease the tremendous burden of financial distress caused by the loss of life or the chronic injuries sustained by first responders.”

Legislation backed by both Democrats and Republicans has been introduced that would fully fund and extend the compensation fund. It would reportedly cost an additional $8 billion for the fund to offer full compensation. That’s hardly pocket change, but that’s a cost we can afford. Consider that in the fiscal 2020 budget proposal submitted by President Trump last week, a request was made for $8.6 billion in funding for his proposed wall along the Southern border.

Law enforcement officials who saved lives and confronted the gruesome aftermath of the 9/11 attacks were rightly lauded almost two decades ago for their bravery and selflessness. The horror of those days is fading into history, but the work of individuals who sifted through twisted wreckage and hauled away charred debris should not be forgotten.