Hearing Of The House Judiciary Committee - Full Committee Markup

Statement

Hearing Of The House Judiciary Committee - Full Committee Markup\

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Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I find it -- first, I want to say to all of the people who have come down here from the great State of New York to support you, the victims of 9/11, I want to say thank you.

And then I also want to say thank you to all of you who were actually first responders. I want to say thank you. America owes you a debt of gratitude that we can never repay, because I imagine it has been very difficult, the physical suffering that you have endured since that fateful day. And I would only be able to imagine the mental suffering that you have had wondering, well, should I have gotten there just a little earlier? Or should I have taken this route to try to save someone? Or did I leave too soon? You know, all of the things that you worry about in second-guessing yourself. And that is a fate that I don't think anybody would want to have, but yet it was thrust upon you because this was your job and you did what had to be done. Your job is to save people, and you saved a lot of people. And I am so disappointed that - I am so disappointed that there is a movement here to cut down on your ability to hire a lawyer to deal with your claims. Now, I mean, a $1 billion claim, hundreds of millions having been spent to deny or contest the claims -- hundreds of millions of dollars -- and then few claims have been actually paid. And so what it means is that the defense lawyers, who are employed by the Special Master to deal with these claims -- and they get paid on an hourly basis, $600, $700, $800 an hour -- it means that they have made a lot of money. And then the people, the claimants have had to go to an attorney so that they can get justice for themselves and their families.

So when we cut attorneys' fees down to 10 percent and all of the claimants' lawyers work on a percentage basis, then it means that it lessens the number of people that are financially able to come to you to help you. And so I vehemently disagree with that. And I would also point out that my defense brethren in the law, their fees are not capped. They will go up and up and up and eat more and more of that money. So I think that the way to accomplish it is to -- there should be a presumption that if you were anywhere near the World Trade Center on 9/11 and a reasonable period thereafter and you are suffering from certain illnesses, then there should be a presumption that you are entitled to recovery, as opposed to a knee-jerk reaction that we are going to deny the claim and force you to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt before we pay you. Representative Carolyn Maloney, out of New York, is just a tremendous warrior and advocate for you, and I am happy to support this bill and -- subject, of course, to my thoughts that I have already related to you. But, once again, I want to say thank you to you for everything that you all have done to help and all that you have endured because of what you did, which was your duty. I yield back the remainder of my time.

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