WASHINGTON — Comedian Jon Stewart is scolding Congress for failing to ensure that a victims’ compensation fund set up after the 9/11 attacks never runs out of money.
Stewart, a longtime advocate for 9/11 responders, angrily called out lawmakers for failing to attend Tuesday’s hearing on a bill that would ensure the fund can pay benefits for the next 70 years. Pointing to rows of empty seats at a House Judiciary Committee hearing room, Stewart said “sick and dying” first responders and their families came to Washington for the hearing, only to face a nearly deserted dais.
He called the lack of attendance “an embarrassment to the country and a stain on the institution” of Congress.
Lawmakers said they support the bill and were monitoring the hearing amid other congressional business.
