Collins floor statement on September 11th Victim Compensation Fund

"I look forward to supporting this legislation and urge my colleagues to do so as well. It is sad the Senate needs to be the responsible steward, because even though this House is doing the right thing in extending this program, this House is doing so in a way that unnecessarily violates basic norms of constitutional government and brings shame to a process on which our institutional legitimacy depends."

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, made the following statement on the House floor regarding H.R. 1327, the Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act. Below are the remarks as prepared. Ranking Member Collins: The attacks of 9/11, designed to murder as many innocent people as possible, were acts of war against the United States. They resulted in the deaths of almost 3,000 people, and left a smoldering pile of toxic debris in New York, but thousands of noble and courageous first responders scaled that smoldering pile and exhumed the dead with dignity. Today, the site includes the National September 11th Memorial. It is fitting Congress do more than memorialize. We must also provide. 9/11 first responders, like all first responders, deserve to have their sacrifices recognized through programs that reasonably limit the damage to themselves and their families, which their own sacrifice entailed. This legislation would reauthorize the current September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Now, the medical program covering needed health care for those affected by 9/11 has already been extended to the year 2090 in legislation enacted many years ago. This legislation before us today would extend a separate program to 2090 — namely, the program designed to compensate the same victims for lost earnings and other losses they suffered as a result of the 9/11 attacks. That compensation will, of course, cost money. Recognizing that is not mean-spirited in any way, but simply a necessity in any responsible budget process where limited federal dollars in specific sums must be allocated in a formal budget composed of specific dollar amounts, divided up by program. Sadly, this bill comes to the floor without any provision to pay for the program. No provision at all. This bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will cost $10.2 billion, and that’s just during the first decade of the seven decades this bill extends the program. This bill is being considered under Suspension of the Rules, which is normally reserved for legislation having no fiscal effects at all, let alone ones involving billions of dollars. The process for this bill on the floor this morning is a shockingly irresponsible legislative act, but, despite this, Democrats cannot evade paying for this program. The Senate will have to provide a mechanism to pay for it, and, by abandoning this responsibility to the Senate, this House invites the Senate to amend other portions of the bill as well. Irresponsibility entails risk, and it’s very unfortunate the Democrat majority today chose to take such risks with a compensation program for 9/11 first responders. While the fiscal impact of this legislation will have to be addressed before it’s signed into law, what is clear is our collective duty to see our first responders are treated fairly, in accordance with what they’ve already given of themselves to a grateful nation. I look forward to supporting this legislation and urge my colleagues to do so as well. It is sad the Senate needs to be the responsible steward, because even though this House is doing the right thing in extending this program, this House is doing so in a way that unnecessarily violates basic norms of constitutional government and brings shame to a process on which our institutional legitimacy depends.