9/11 first responder in hospice urges Congress to ‘do the right thing’

The 9/11 first responder who testified alongside comedian Jon Stewart last week pleaded with Congress from his hospital bed Thursday, asking members to “do the right thing.”

Appearing on Fox News’ “Shepard Smith Reporting” Thursday from his bed after entering hospice this week, Louis Alvarez gave an impassioned plea calling for congressional action on the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

{mosads}“We did the right thing when we went down there,” Alvarez said, referring to when he and thousands of others responded to the devastation from the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. “Now it’s the government’s turn to do the right thing by us.”

The fund is slated to run out of money this year if it is not renewed. Stewart and Alvarez were among those who traveled to Washington last week to call for renewed funding through 2090, with Stewart calling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) this week for his “indifference” on the bill.

Alvarez said he has “no regrets” in how he rushed to the scene following the attack, but called on Congress to fund the bill, which has picked up renewed traction in recent weeks following Stewart’s now-viral emotional testimony.

“We need this bill passed. It’s gotta be passed quickly and efficiently so we never have to come down to Washington again and lobby,” Alvarez said.

The retired NYPD detective said he has gone through 68 rounds of chemotherapy and was told that there was nothing else doctors could do about his stage 4 cancer. He is in hospice care and at peace and comfortable, he added.

“9/11 happened. We got called down. It’s my job as an NYPD detective to respond to emergencies,” Alvarez said in what he called his last interview ever. “I’m nobody special. I did what all the other guys did. Now we’re paying the price for it.”

The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund bill passed through the House Judiciary Committee last week and will soon go before the full House for a vote.