UF students sat in Marston Science Library, cellphones in hand, ready to call U.S. senators and representatives.
Wednesday night, 10 students lobbied from the library in support of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1786), which makes funding available for first responders who were injured or the families of those who were killed in the rescue and recovery efforts following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
UF history sophomore David Hoffman and history and Chinese junior Caroline Nickerson planned the calling event, where they hoped to flood the voicemail boxes of Florida senators and representatives. Congress members have to sign to keep the act in effect before it expires Saturday, or else those benefiting from it will lose their health care next October.
There are 17 Florida members of Congress who have not signed the act, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R- Florida).
"First responders got these health problems directly from their service," Nickerson, 21, said. "As citizens, we have a duty to provide health care to these people. If we as students don’t mobilize to call our representatives, these people will be forgotten."
The act was introduced in Congress earlier this year, according to the U.S. Congress website.
"They took care of us," Hoffman, 19, said. "Now it’s our turn to take care of them."
Nickerson said she and Hoffman made a Facebook page for the event, encouraging their friends to call members of Congress. They posted Congress members’ phone numbers on Facebook, and 10 students called from home.
UF junior Nick Johnson said he attended because he admires the heroism of first responders.
"The least we can do for the people that sacrificed their lives and their livelihoods to help other Americans," the 20-year-old said, "is to provide them with health care."
