Comedian Jon Stewart blasted Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Wednesday night for delaying a vote after the Senate attempted to reauthorize a fund that gives compensation to victims and first responders of 9/11.
Paul asked for a vote on an amendment to offset the cost, objecting to the projected cost of the bill that would reauthorize the 9/11 compensation fund. The fund was created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to help pay for medical expenses and losses after the terrorist attacks. The estimated costs would be $10.2 billion over the next decade, USA Today reported. Stewart was outraged by Paul’s decision.
“It’s absolutely outrageous, and you’ll pardon me if I’m not impressed in any way by Rand Paul’s fiscal responsibility virtue signaling,” Stewart, who has been fighting for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund and visiting Capitol Hill with first responders and other victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, said on Fox News.
“Rand Paul presented tissue paper avoidance of the $1.5 trillion tax cut that added hundreds of billions of dollars to our deficit and now he stands up at the last minute, after 15 years of blood, sweat, and tears from the 9/11 community, to say that it’s all over now and we’re going to balance the budget on the backs of the 9/11 first responder community, ” Stewart continued.
In February, Stewart visited Capitol Hill with Sept. 11 first responders to speak to Republican lawmakers about conserving health insurance funding for those affected by the terrorist attacks. In an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation, Stewart explained he was on the Hill lobbying for this legislation, which then passed the House on July 12.
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“People dying of cancer has no leaning which way. It affects Democrats and Republicans. We’re independent, liberal, Republicans, conservative, Democrats today. We don’t care what you are — just don’t be an asshole,” John Field, a 9/11 first responder, told TheDCNF regarding partisan support for the cause. (RELATED: Jon Stewart Joins Forces With 9/11 First Responders On Capitol Hill To Fight For Funding For Victims Of Terrorism)
“Senator Paul is not blocking anything. He is simply seeking to pay for it. As with any bill, Senator Paul always believes it needs to be paid for. Senator Paul is simply offering an amendment, which other senators support, to pay for this legislation,” a spokesperson for Paul told the Daily Caller when asked about his decision to delay the bill.