Sen. Rand Paul Faces Outrage for Blocking Bill on 9/11 Fund: ‘Enough of the Political Games!’

Morgan PhillipsJul 17th, 2019, 3:52 pm
 

Sen. Rand Paul on Wednesday blocked the Senate from approving an extension of the 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund, and many are furious, beginning with Sen. Kristen Gillibrand.

“Enough of the political games! Our 9/11 first responders and the entire nation are watching to see if this body actually cares,” said Gillibrand in response to Paul’s block.

Gillibrand had tried to win the Senate’s consent to approve the bill which passed the House 402-12 last week. In order to approve the bill, which would extend funding until 2090, she needed unanimous consent, to which Paul objected.

“It has long been my feeling that we need to address our massive debt in this country,” said Paul. “Any new program that’s going to have the longevity of 70, 80 years should be offset by cutting spending that’s less valuable,” he added.

“We need at the very least to have this debate. I will be offering up an amendment if this bill should come to the floor, but until then I will object.”

“I am deeply disappointed that my colleague has just objected to the desperately needed and urgent bill for our 9/11 first responders. A bipartisan bill that just earned over 400 votes in the House of Representatives, and has 73 co-sponsors in this chamber,” said Gillibrand.

People were outraged:

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