With the halls of Congress empty in the last hours before Thanksgiving, the IAVA Legislative Team continued pressing today on Capitol Hill to extend the Zadroga health program for the 9/11 First Responders. We met with the offices of Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and Mike Coffman (R-CO), both of which are House Veterans Affairs Committee Members who have not yet registered their support.

We were well-received and the staff we met with will be discussing the legislation with their bosses when Congress returns after Thanksgiving. It was not lost on them that constituents of theirs, nearly 200 in their states, were 9/11 First Responders.

The same day, the IAVA Team also had a very encouraging meeting with staff from one of the bill’s primary sponsors, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), to share information and to strategize a path to success.

How you can help: IAVA has set up a “Take Action” web page for our veterans and supporters to ask their Members of Congress to support the bill. The page, iava.org/zadroga, lists all current cosponsors of the measure. If your representatives in DC aren’t yet on the bill, click here to email your members of Congress.