Jon Stewart Returns To ‘The Daily Show’ To Shame Congress Into Supporting 9/11 First Responders
Jon Stewart has done a lot more in his retirement than just amping up his hot dad aesthetic, as we discovered last night when he made a (somewhat frustrated) return to "The Daily Show" desk.
Saddling up across from his replacement, Trevor Noah, Stewart explained the background of an issue that's super important to him: the renewal of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (AKA the Zadroga Act).
text="Here’s What It Was Like To Be A 4th-Grader In New York On September 11, 2001"]
It's theoretically pretty cut and dry: Countless first-responders to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have suffered medical complications from being exposed to chemicals and debris during the rescue and clean-up; many are dying and can't afford to pay the crazy-high medical bills. The Act, first passed in 2010 by Congress (after a lot of pressure) expired, in part, on September 30, 2015, and the rest is set to expire by October of 2016.
Both Stewart and Noah agreed that it seems completely nuts that this legislation hasn't been immediately extended. And, yet -- as Stewart explains to the South African Noah with a side-eyed "You're not from around here..." -- here we are.
“These first responders, many sick with cancers and pulmonary disease, have had to travel at their own expense to Washington D.C., hundreds of times to plead for our government to do the right thing -- plead!" an exasperated Stewart said, banging his hands on the desk.
Stewart added that many in Congress who tweeted messages promising to "never forget" have not shown support for the act or come up with long-term solutions to support these first-responders -- essentially forgetting them. The clip also follows Stewart on his most recent visit to the capitol, where he and a few of those first-responders attempted to get some face-time with some of those leaders (including Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Rand Paul) to try and "shame" them into doing something, anything.
Unfortunately, the legislators (much like frightened meerkats, as Stewart explains) did not poke their heads out to risk confrontation, causing Stewart to draw a pretty simple conclusion:
Watch the full segment here:
