New York’s two Democratic Senators are predicting that the bill to aid 9/11 first responders will be able to pass the Senate — after having previously been blocked by Senate Republicans –Â in the wake of recent changes such as lowering the price tag from $7.4 billion to $6.2 billion.
Appearing this morning on Good Morning America, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told George Stephanopoulos: “We now have the votes, we’ve made some modifications that some of our Republican colleagues requested and if no one does undue delay, just stands up and delays and delays and delays, we will get this done.”
In addition, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) appeared this morning on The Early Show, and predicted passage.
“We’ve been working very hard for many months and over the last several weeks on really addressing some of the concerns that my Republican colleagues had about the bill,” said. “That’s why we changed how we are paying for the bill. We’ve also changed the total amount of the bill to reflect the fact that we’ve just had a settlement and some more funds are getting to these first responders. I believe we have the package we need to really have a Christmas miracle, what we’re aiming for.”
