True: Trump signed the bill for permanently authorising funds for 9/11 first responders.

By: Devika Kandelwal
August 27 2020

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Trump signed the bill, though it had only been opposed by Republican SenatorsPresident Donald Trump signed a law in 2019 to permanently extend aid to first responders who fell ill after working at Ground Zero following the September, 11 terrorist attacks. Trump signed the $10 billion legislation capping a 15-year fight to ensure first responders and other survivors of the attacks are fully compensated. The legislation authorizes money for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund through 2092, essentially making it permanent. Thousands of people have been diagnosed with cancers linked to the toxins in the air near the World Trade Center site, and thousands more have respiratory and other related illnesses. A $7.4 billion fund that was set up to aid sick survivors and the families of those who had died had started to run dry and administrators had begun cutting payments by up to 70% in 2019. But, after the bill was signed into law, the fund reversed the decision and announced that it now has sufficient money. Extension of the provisions in the bill has been strongly opposed by several Republican senators since 2010, but following a lengthy campaign by first responders the bill passed the senate last year.