Call made for more Sept. 11 health funds

NEW YORK, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- New York congressional House members called on President George Bush to increase funding for first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

At a weekend news conference, Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler said Bush to should restart a proposed national processing center that was scrapped last month, the New York Sun reported Monday.

The program would have consolidated funding of health programs for emergency workers who responded to hijacked aircraft attacks that felled the World Trade Center's two towers.

Maloney referred to Bush's scheduled State of the Union address Monday night, but said she didn't expect any good news for emergency workers.

"The president will probably mention 9/11 on Monday, but he's unlikely to announce any aid for the heroes who rushed to New York from all around the country to save the lives of others," she said, at the Sunday news conference.

Scores of workers have since been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and various respiratory ailments from working in the debris, the report said.