Sick 9/11 workers: Bush plan for more health funds is inadequate
1/31/2007, 6:01 p.m. ET
By VERENA DOBNIK
The Associated Press       

NEW YORK (AP) — The son of a ground zero rescue worker who died last
week from lung disease met with President Bush on Wednesday, saying
there is a "desperate" need to help those still fighting illnesses after
exposure to toxins from the smoldering debris.

"On behalf of all World Trade Center victims, I expressed the urgency
and the desperate need for financial support for health services," said
Ceasar Borja Jr., 21, speaking quietly, but fervently, about his mission
to save others from his father's fate.

He said he told the president the funding should be expanded not for
just "the heroes and heroines" from ground zero, but also for men, women
and children exposed to the fumes because they lived or worked in the area.

Borja's father, Cesar Borja, was a police officer who spent 14-hour days
in the pit after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. He died at 52,
while awaiting a lung transplant.

Earlier Wednesday, before Bush delivered a speech on the economy at
Federal Hall, sick Sept. 11 workers and neighborhood residents rallied
in the freezing cold at the edge of ground zero to criticize the
president's proposal to spend an additional $25 million for a health
care program.

"Twenty-five million is absolutely not enough," said 47-year-old Marvin
Bethea, pointing out that some legislators, including Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton, have proposed $1.9 billion in additional funds. "That's
a big gap."

The boisterous, emotional rally of several dozen people was not in
Bush's sight as he arrived at Federal Hall, which was blocked off by
police barricades that kept out any protesters.

Ceasar Borja Jr. met with the president privately in a room there, along
with his mother, Eva, 16-year-old brother, Evan, and 12-year-old sister,
Nhia. The family then walked into the hall's rotunda, standing
arm-in-arm for a news conference.

On the day his father died last week, the college student attended
Bush's State of the Union speech as Clinton's guest.

After the family's meeting with Bush, the Democratic senator from New
York issued a statement, saying: "I am very pleased that the president
responded to my request that he meet with Ceasar Borja Jr. and his
family. ... I am hopeful that the administration will make good on its
commitment to make funding available so that those suffering will
receive treatment."

Presidential spokesman Tony Snow said earlier Wednesday that first
responders "will get the treatment they need," with the government
filling any "gaps" not covered by health insurance.

Rally participant Mariama James said she spends $480 a month in copays
for medication for her three children, who suffer from health problems
she attributes to Sept. 11. James lives four blocks from ground zero and
gave birth to her youngest child just weeks after the attack.

Aiming her words at Bush, she said: "You have committed hundreds of
millions of dollars to protect us from those who would do us harm. We
ask that you protect us from those who did us harm. The $25 million is
not enough even for the needs of the workers."

The protesters stood feet from the spot where on Sept. 14, 2001, Bush
mounted a battered, charred fire truck and, through a bullhorn, told
rescue workers, "I can hear you!"

Next week, his administration will propose the additional Sept.
11-related health funding at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Medical Center,
where 19,000 rescue workers have been screened.

About seven out of 10 responders have suffered lung problems, according
to a Mount Sinai study, and thousands will likely need long-term care.

Bethea, who was at ground zero as a paramedic, said he now takes
medication for post traumatic stress syndrome, asthma, sinusitis and
depression. Doctors have told him that the lungs of those who responded
on the day of the attack aged suddenly by about a dozen years.

Ron Vega, 48, spent 10 months at ground zero as a construction project
manager. He said the toxic dust included crushed computers and
fluorescent lights that have left traces of arsenic and mercury in his
body triple the maximum safe level, with damage to his liver, lungs,
sinuses and blood, as well as skin rashes.

"Bush does not fathom the full picture," he said. "Unless you're dying
or dead, no one pays attention."

White House officials said they would consider providing more money
beyond the proposed $25 million, depending on the findings of a
government task force. A federal grant of $75 million made last year was
expected to last until summer.