More than two decades after the attacks on 9/11, the people who breathed in toxic dust and fumes are still getting sick. Over 132,000 responders, volunteers, survivors, and residents rely on the World Trade Center Health Program for lifesaving care. It covers cancer treatment, respiratory diseases, PTSD therapy, and screenings that catch illnesses early before they become fatal.

Now, unbelievably, the Trump administration has gutted the program.

Staff have been fired, enrollment has stopped, and patients can no longer be quickly certified for treatments. Without immediate action, people will suffer and die waiting for help that was once guaranteed.

Michael O’Connell, a 9/11 first responder, said it best: "We were breathing in glass and asbestos and everything else that you could imagine. We slept in it, we ate in it, we bled in it. We didn’t leave it. We were in that zone for almost nine months."

After developing a rare, painful illness, Michael credits the World Trade Center Health Program with saving his life. Now he and thousands like him are being told they might not get the care they desperately need.

This is not just a betrayal of promises made. It is a betrayal of everything America stands for.

We demand that the World Trade Center Health Program be fully restored, fully funded, and fully staffed immediately. We call on Congress to pass new funding protections and ensure the program stays open through 2090 as survivors were promised. Every day of delay risks lives that can be saved.

America must stand by its heroes.

Photo: Mark Lennihan / AP file