Pete King Pushes Back on Republicans’ 9/11 Health Care Memo

Reid Pillifant — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:55:12 -0400

Congressman Peter King--the lone Republican co-sponsor of the 9/11 health care bill--is pushing back against a policy memo circulating among his colleagues in the Senate.

The memo, which outlined why Republicans should oppose the bill, has already caused considerable consternation on the other side of the aisle. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney called it a "pack of lies," and it earned a stern response from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Today, as 9/11 responders descended on the Capitol in anticipation of a test vote tomorrow, King sent his own two-page letter to his fellow Republicans, attempting to debunk the memo's claim that the $7.4 billion plan was an unnecessary entitlement likely to be plagued with fraud and abuse.

The bill's backers are trying to desperately to convince one more Republican to vote for cloture tomorrow, which would then allow the measure to come for an up-or-down vote. So far, the lone Republican to support the measure is Illinois's Mark Kirk.

Here's the letter from King:

KingLetterGOPSenatorsZadroga

Observer » Pete King Pushes Back on Republicans’ 9/11 Health Care Memo

Pete King Pushes Back on Republicans’ 9/11 Health Care Memo