I actually knew this
bozo in Jacksonville...This mass hatred of first responders by the right is truly bizarro...
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has finished screening 60,000 Ground Zero responders and others after a Florida congressman insisted they be checked against a terrorist watch list before receiving aid from a Sept. 11 program, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Investigators did not find any suspected terrorists in the group, people familiar with the work said.
The requirement was included in legislation passed by Congress last year that re-opened a compensation fund and extended a health-treatment program for those sickened by exposure to Ground Zero.
That condition, pushed by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R.- Fla.), angered New York lawmakers, who called it an insult to those who toiled on the toxic debris left by the destruction of the World Trade Center.
"It was shameful, and it put a cloud over extraordinarily good people for no reason," said Rep. Peter King (R- NY).
"That none of the people was found to have been on the watch list "shows what a waste of time this was from the beginning," he said.
The FBI's Terrorist Screening Center completed the bulk of the name-check work in late June, people familiar with the matter said, but it is not completely finished.
Every month, more people become eligible for benefits by enrolling in Sept. 11 health programs, and the FBI will also check those new additions.
"Did anyone really think the heroes of 9/11 were terrorists? It's absurd," said Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, whose Manhattan district includes the World Trade Center site. "It was a waste of money, especially because it wasn't a simple thing to do, because you had to do the checks without violating the privacy of the first responders," he said.
