 Welcome to what is the Nassau County site of the Stonybrook World Trade Center Health Program. The program has actually been in operation since November. It exists in this building and that is the hospital's Winthrop Wellness Pavilion on the second floor. It truly made great pleasure to be here to help launch another front in healing the wounds that were inflicted a little over 10 years ago in the calamity that we call 9-11. That was obviously a terrible milestone in the American history, but it's also an incredible milestone of resilience and healing and learning. Amidst all the human carnage, the fire, the dust and toxic fumes, the responders labored for months on end first rescuing the survivors and then shepherding our nation for recovery. The alignment of our state university and its affiliated institutions provides us an important foundation from which we can work effectively to alleviate and cure diseases afflicting this group of heroic Americans. Winthrop University Hospital is an extraordinary example of what's possible and where Stonybrook University is going to open this satellite here is going to make such a difference for the families that live on the island. To be able to serve 1,000 patients so much more easily with such accessibility knowing that it's a community-based hospital is going to make a difference in their treatment and their care. I think the terror and fear that go through the hearts and minds of so many first responders when they're first diagnosed with an illness, as grave as some of the illnesses these men and women are suffering through to know that they can have care right here will take enormous weight off their shoulders. Starting today this program will be a life-saving light. It will be a beacon of light, a beacon of hope, a beacon of healing. It means so much to have the location right here on Long Island. Long Island was devastated by 9-11 both as far as those who were killed that day and those since who continue to suffer and continue to be diagnosed with such debilitating illnesses, serious illnesses, life-threatening illnesses, people in the prime of life. The more I talk about it the harder it is for me again to even explain what went on during those years in Congress when people refused to step up and refused to pass this legislation. You know my family come from construction workers, they're welders. Asbestos has always been something that's been in our family and I know that doesn't show up for 10, 20, 25 years. And I'm looking at all these workers, all these first responders. I'm saying what is their life going to be like down the road? Well we're already seeing that. And now to have this partnership between Stony Brook University and Winthrop is so great for our constituents, for our people and there are going to be many more because an awful lot of people are going to come forward in the years ahead. At one point last December this was declared, as I've said before, this was declared a dead issue and everyone said give up, it's just not going to happen and you showed tremendous leadership and by not giving up, the same way the responders didn't give up in those horrible days after the terrorist attack by not giving up, you brought us here today. So thank you. I'd like to say thank you to a few people at Winthrop. Mr. Collins, Gary Schwalt, Dr. Niederman. Thank you, you have the foresight to lay the groundwork of course to be able to work with Dr. Love by introducing a very rare branch of medicine, expertise in occupational and environmental medicine. So thank you for doing that. I'd like to thank, there's a lot of people in the room. I don't want to leave anyone out. There are Genie White, Sue Kalman said, you know, we're here today and Ben and I met a few months ago. We started to talk about doing this. It just doesn't happen overnight as you probably know in Congress, right? And a lot of people work very hard and put in hours and weekends and emails at midnight. So thank you all for making this what it is today. At the time of the attacks I was in emergency service, police officer with the authority police. Lucky to have survived the attacks, saddened by the profound loss I participated in the recovery effort. There was ash and soot and debris and it got into our bodies. I suffer from asthma, sinusitis, acid reflux, sleep apnea, and post-traumatic stress. I take medications and go to doctor's appointments. On behalf of all the people who are suffering long-term health effects and for something of a tragedy, I say thank you to everyone whose efforts have made this very important program possible. I say thank you. But I would just like to say a few words and thank you especially to winter are possible here today. The nurses here today, the doctors, Charlene Dreyer, Nancy Layden, and anyway, you could see the way this is being ran so far, me a month, this is going to be a good operation. And with that, I'd like to thank you very much.