WATCH: NYPD veteran on 69th round of chemo makes plea to Congress for 9/11 victims fund

In a simple, but passionate testimony, veteran and retired NYPD detective Luis Alvarez urged lawmakers to reauthorize funding for victims of the 9/11 attacks. “This fund is not a ticket to paradise,” said Alvarez, who was scheduled to begin his 69th round of chemotherapy the next day. “It is there to provide for our families when we can’t. Nothing more." The fund provides money to any person who suffered physical harm or the families or those who were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks or the subsequent debris removal efforts. Alvarez told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties that, “You all said you would never forget. Well, I’m here to make sure that you don’t.” If the fund is not renewed, it will expire in 2020 and could run out of money before then.

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