9/11 Victim Compensation Fund bill signed into law

US President Donald Trump, surrounded by Sept 11 first responders and family members, signs an act to authorise the fund. Pic/AFP

Washington: President Donald Trump on Monday signed the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Bill into law to provide health care facilities to the police officers, firefighters and other first responders to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The President was joined by more than 200 individuals affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including more than 60 first responders, at the White House Rose Garden ceremony, CNN reported.

"Today we come together as one nation to support our September 11th heroes to care for their families and to renew our eternal vow - never ever forget," Trump said, calling the fund's extension "a sacred duty".

"The love and loyalty of our 9/11 responders knew no bounds. They answered terror with the emotional strength of true American warriors," he added.

Trump told the crowd of 9/11 first responders and their families that he was also at Ground Zero in the wake of the terror attacks, though he said he does not consider himself to be a first responder. "I was down there also, but I'm not considering myself a first responder," Trump said. "But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you," he added.

Trump's signature marked the end of a 15-year fight to get the government to permanently pay claims to first responders and other victims who were sickened by the toxic fumes in the days and weeks following the September 11 terror attacks. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the fund's extension will cost about $10 billion over the next decade.

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