Washington, D.C. – Representative Paul Gosar, DDS (AZ-04) issued the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 8987, the Fairness for 9/11 Families Act, legislation that would authorize lump sum catch-up payments for all eligible 9/11 victims, spouses, and dependents while simultaneously demanding congress also reform the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include victims residing in Mohave County, Arizona.

“I voted to ensure that 9/11 victims receive matching payments relating to the horrific attack on our country by Saudi-trained radical Islamic terrorists.  All 9/11 victims deserve compensation and Congress finally rectified a decade’s old mistake.

Sadly, today our country is no safer than it was 21 years ago.  Nearly every recommendation by the 9/11 Commission to prevent future attacks has been ignored.  Systemic problems, in particular Joe Biden’s open border policies, are a very real concern.  78 terrorists have been apprehended crossing our southern border in the last 18 months.  No one knows how many more have entered our country undetected.

While this legislation will provide important payments to the victims of 9/11, it does nothing to prevent a future terrorist attack by those who are quite literally walking into our country, encouraged by the Biden administration’s reckless immigration policies.

This vote should also be a reminder to House leaders that there are countless other victims suffering in our country that are also entitled to compensation from the federal government including people in Mohave County, Arizona who developed cancer or other related illnesses after being exposed to radiation from atomic weapons testing during our nation’s Cold War Era but were mistakenly excluded from receiving payments.  Like the Fairness for 9/11 Families Act, congress has a moral responsibility to update the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act and should stop dragging its feet and immediately take it up,” concluded Congressman Gosar.

Michael W. Cutler, Senior Special Agent, Immigration and Naturalization Service (Ret.) added: “The primary missions of the government are to protect national security, public safety and public health. Inexplicably, the Biden administration’s immigration policies run in direct opposition to the findings and recommendations of the 9/11 Commission to which I provided testimony.  That Commission determined that the 9/11 terror attacks and previous terror attacks, were only possible because of multiple failures of the immigration system that enabled terrorists to enter the United States and embed themselves as they went about their deadly preparations.

America’s borders are our nation’s first and last lines of defense.  While the disastrous situation along our southern border created by the Biden administration undermines national security and public safety, in reality our nation has 50 border states. The multiple systemic failures of the immigration system are the direct consequences of the Biden administration’s policies that leave America and Americans vulnerable to terrorists, drug trafficking cartels and human trafficking syndicates in this particularly dangerous era.