The Man Who Helped the 9/11 Bill Fly

John Feal, a 44-year-old from Nesconset, Long Island, was a demolition supervisor at Ground Zero when a giant piece of steel fell toward him.

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By DEVLIN BARRETT
12/23/2011

Of all the people who pushed a Ground Zero health bill through Congress this week, one of the most important wasn't a lawmaker but a profane, gum-chewing construction worker named John Feal. He only became involved because he was shut out of an earlier 9/11 compensation fund.

Congress passed the $4.3 billion measure Wednesday providing long-term health care and a new compensation program to those who became ill after working at the World Trade Center site. The president has said he will sign it.

The legislative victory came after intense last-minute negotiations. Mr. Feal, who by his own admission struggled to complete high school, played a critical role in hammering out details and then throwing his support behind a new version of the bill scaled back to satisfy Republican concerns about cost.

The two lead negotiators on the deal, New York Democratic senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer were beaming after the vote. An exuberant Mr. Schumer grabbed Mr. Feal.

"You're the man, baby!'' he hollered, though Mr. Feal was right next to him. "I learned what you were made of in that meeting yesterday!''

The 44-year-old from Nesconset, Long Island, was a demolition supervisor at Ground Zero when a giant piece of steel fell toward him. He jumped out of the way, but the steel caught his left foot.

Doctors later amputated part of it.

From a legal standpoint, the most important thing about the injury was its timing. A victim compensation fund created by Congress decreed that only injuries occurring in the first 96 hours were eligible for compensation. Mr. Feal was hurt about a day too late to qualify.

"I think about that all the time,'' he admitted. "What if I had just gotten compensation and gone away?''

Instead, he got angry. And he got loud.

Mr. Feal isn't the first person hurt by the Sept. 11 attacks to lobby Washington.

In 2004, a group of women who lost loved ones in the attacks successfully forced Congress to make sweeping changes to the nation's intelligence agencies. In tearful testimony, they shamed lawmakers to act by sharing their grief.

Mr. Feal shared his anger.

At one point, he threatened to run primary candidates against every single New York Democrat in Congress if they didn't get a vote in the House on the bill. He cursed. He cajoled. And after winning a legal settlement for his injury, he spent tens of thousands of dollars in his own money to provide buses to take the sick and ailing to Congress where they could confront lawmakers opposed to the bill.

In 2007, he tried to donate his kidney to an ill first responder. When tests showed they weren't a good biological match, he donated it to someone else.

He could often be seen in congressional hallways, wearing a bright plaid cap and barking orders to ill first responders—some of them barely able to walk—to track down this or that lawmaker.

Once the deal was struck, Mr. Feal said he found a quiet spot near Mr. Schumer's office and cried.

"How do you say that word, eu…, eu…, euphoria? I felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders,'' he said. "Now I'm going to advocate for those who deserve this program, and I'm going to advocate against anyone who tries to defraud it.''

Lawmakers pile praise on Mr. Feal for his work, though he insisted he played only a small part, comparing himself to a sergeant among generals. And the final deal doesn't please everyone—a law firm that handled many Sept. 11 compensation claims said Thursday that the new fund had too many limitations. Mr. Feal said the deal was "a 6 or 7 out of 10,'' and would save lives.

After the vote Wednesday, Mr. Feal happened to run into Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, who had been a frequent target of Mr. Feal's wrath.

"I said, 'Congressman, I apologize for being a pain...the last couple of years, but I hope you know my heart was in the right place," Mr. Feal said.