Cyrus Dugger

While Schumer Slept

From the Village Voice:

While Schumer Slept For five years, New York’s senior senator said nothing about the toxic cloud that hung over his own constituents. by Kristen Lombardi

Chuck Schumer was late.

It was September 8, 2006, three days before the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, and the usual faces of New York’s congressional delegation had gathered yet again for a hearing to attract attention to the “living victims” of September 11—the rescue and recovery workers, residents, students, and office employees who have gotten sick from the toxic aftermath of the World Trade Center collapse.

There was Hillary Clinton, the state’s junior senator and future 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, who now owns 9-11 environmental health issues in the way the former mayor Rudy Giuliani owned crime. Next to her sat Carolyn Maloney, the congresswoman representing midtown Manhattan, whose office had organized Capitol Hill trips and ground zero rallies to call attention to the cause. Farther down sat Vito Fossella, of Staten Island, a Republican House member who had pointedly attacked the leader of his own party, President Bush, for ignoring the public-health crisis. Next to him sat Jerrold Nadler, lower Manhattan’s longtime congressman, who had led the original battle with the Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to clean up the trade center dust. (keep reading)

Posted at 5:03 PM, Feb 26, 2007 in Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)