BEYOND GROUND ZERO

·Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund·Chinese Staff and Workers Association·Commission on the Public's Health System·
·National Mobilization Against Sweatshops·Urban Justice Center·

Press Advisory Contact: Tosh Anderson or JoAnn Lum
For Immediate Release (212) 518-1274 or (212) 625-0288
June 22, 2007

9/11 VICTIMS CHARGE CHRISTINE WHITMAN & PRESIDENT BUSH
OF CRIME AGAINST AMERICANS BY LYING THAT
THE WTC TOXIC AIR WAS SAFE--
GO TO WASHINGTON TO DEMAND APOLOGY
& JAIL TIME FOR WHITMAN
CALL FOR STUDY AND MEDICAL TREATMENT PROGRAM

WHAT: Press Conference of Ground Zero clean-up workers, Lower East Side residents and other Lower Manhattan workers to demand an apology from former EPA head Christine Whitman and President Bush for the health and economic crises they have suffered as a result of the EPA's lie that the air was safe.

WHEN: Monday, June 25, 11:30 a.m.WHERE: In front of Rayburn House Building in Washington D.C.

WHO: Representatives from the Beyond Ground Zero Network, immigrant Ground Zero clean-up workers, low-income residents and workers from Lower Manhattan still suffering from the crippling effects of the WTC disaster.

WHY: EPA Director Whitman's assurance that the air was safe jeopardized the lives of hundreds of thousands of clean-up workers, residents, and lower Manhattan workers. Today, they suffer serious, life-altering health problems such as chronic respiratory problems, skin, eye and neurological problems, and disturbingly growing incidences of miscarriages and cancers. The government's response has been unconscionable. Immediately after the disaster, the government's representative, Christine Whitman, lied to the people about the safety of the air. The federal government still refuses to fund an accessible, high-quality long-term medical treatment and study for 9-11-affected workers and residents, nor has it provided compensation or health insurance for all affected.The press conference will take place just before Whitman's testimony at a Congressional hearing on the Federal government's response to the disaster of 9/11.

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