TRENTON — After getting criticized for defending fellow Republicans over the delay of legislation to provide health benefits to 9/11 rescue workers, Gov. Chris Christie later said he supports the bill. "I don’t think my party is opposed to this bill," Christie said at a morning event in Wayne on Tuesday. "This bill should be done, but it should...
Gov. Chris Christie, left, and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, right, traded barbs yesterday concerning the current GOP effort to filibuster a bill that would provide health care support to 9/11 rescue workers.TRENTON — After getting criticized for defending fellow Republicans over the delay of legislation to provide health benefits to 9/11 rescue workers, Gov. Chris Christie later said he supports the bill.
"I don’t think my party is opposed to this bill," Christie said at a morning event in Wayne on Tuesday. "This bill should be done, but it should be done in a way that is fiscally responsible."
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), a vocal advocate for the health bill, was quick Tuesday afternoon to criticize Christie’s comments.
"It is beyond shameful that Gov. Christie is dismissing the 9/11 Health Bill as fiscally irresponsible," Lautenberg said in a statement. "The truth is that the bill will not add one penny to the deficit."
After Lautenberg’s public criticism, Christie was asked about his position on New Jersey 101.5 FM’s "Ask the Governor" program last night, as the host pointed out the governor "kinda" supported it.
"I did speak out in favor of it today," Christie said. "It wasn’t ‘kinda’ ... If I didn’t think that the bill was necessary, I would say don’t do it."
He said his comments about fiscal responsibility of the legislation were general, not a critique of the specific bill. Christie then went on to lambaste Lautenberg.
"This guy is so out of touch and so partisan, it wouldn’t have mattered what I would have said, he would have attacked. Because that’s just the way he conducts himself, that’s the way he plays politics, and it’s shameful," Christie said. "Well, you know, people elected him, so we’ve got to put up with him."
Public relations between Lautenberg and Christie have been heated. Lautenberg criticized Christie for canceling the Hudson River rail tunnel project and the governor responded by saying the senator could only "blow hot air."
Reached for comment last night, Lautenberg’s spokesman Caley Gray said the senator "is working around the clock to overcome a Republican filibuster and get the bill done. It’s shocking to see the governor of New Jersey supporting opponents of the bill rather than helping us get it passed."
The bill would provide additional benefits to those first responders, like police and firefighters, who later got sick from inhaling tainted air at the site of the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The bill has stalled in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats have pointed to Republican delay tactics.
The prime sponsors — U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand (both D-N.Y.) — worked to bring down the price tag, but only a few days remain before Congress adjourns for Christmas. Without passage this week, supporters will likely have to start over in a new Congress that will have a Republican-controlled House.
The current bill already cleared the House. The only member of the New Jersey delegation to oppose the bill was Republican Rep. Scott Garrett.
When asked about the legislation last week, Christie deferred, saying it was a federal matter. Asked again Tuesday, this time with the caveat that he’s a "rising star in the Republican Party," Christie reiterated his position that it’s a federal issue.
"I believe it’s the responsible and humane thing to do," he said. "There has to be a responsible way to pay for this, and they need to come to an agreement to pay for it."
When asked about proposals that would fund the bill by closing some tax loopholes, Christie said it was an issue he’s not following that closely, adding he’s been busy with state matters.
According to the New York City 9/11 health registry, meant for doctors to track illnesses related to the disaster, there are 8,158 New Jerseyans in the registration, the second highest state after New York.
"This legislation would help thousands of New Jerseyans, many who rushed into the inferno and paid for their heroism with their lives and debilitating sickness," Lautenberg said. "While several of us in the United States Senate today met with first responders, family members and friends of those seriously ill from exposure at Ground Zero, Gov. Christie today chose to adopt the political party line."