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American Morning
Talk with Widows of WTC Victims
Aired December 05, 2001 - 07:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The terrorists attacks of 9-11 left more than 3,000 people dead. The nation felt the pain of the victims and their survivors. Well, now the families of those lost in the World Trade Center want their voices to be heard in Washington. Today, a group of widows will lobby Congress to finish work on a bill that would refund two years of federal taxes paid by victims of the terror attacks. Both the House and Senate passed separate measures. A final bill, though, is stalled. But the families say the time for financial relief is now.
Joining us from Edison, New Jersey, where they are about to board a train for the capital, are Sheila Martello and Ginny Bauer. Good of you to join us this morning. Welcome.
SHEILA MARTELLO, WIDOW OF WTC VICTIM:
Thank you.
GINNY BAUER, WIDOW OF WTC VICTIM: Good morning. Thank you.
ZAHN: Ginny, what do you hope to accomplish later this morning in D.C.?
BAUER: We're hoping to draw some attention to the fact that this bill is languishing before the House and as of yet we have not received any help from our federal government. As you mentioned, this is our federal tax money that we have paid. It's mirrored from a bill that is already available to members of the armed forces. And our loved ones were certainly killed at war in America on American soil and we simply want them to pay attention to this bill and have it passed for us.
ZAHN: So, Sheila, you all were originally told this wasn't expected to be a contentious issue. But as I understand it now, the debate is whether to extend the same kind of relief to the families who were victimized by the Oklahoma City bombing. Can you elaborate on that?--
MARTELLO: Well, the specifics of this bill are not really the issue here. The issue is that we want a bill that takes and, takes into consideration all people that were affected by September 11 and it's not up to us to decide who gets included and who doesn't. That's for the elected officials to decide. So what we really need to do is to go to Washington and to make sure that they understand that we expect a commitment from our leadership of the House and the Senate, that we need to be taken care of and we need an immediate decision for this.
ZAHN: Ginny, how far would this tax rebate go towards helping your family and other families who you've had contact with?
BAUER: I think it would help everybody tremendously. I think the operative word is it's immediate. There's a lot of what ifs out there. I've used a term called a financial mirage. But to answer your question, I think in most cases it would provide financial security for at least a year. And that will allow us to deal with our grief, deal with our families, handle our emotions and then as things move on, we can make further decisions in terms of taking care of our families.
ZAHN: And, Sheila, I know obviously this is a role that you never wanted to play, as a lobbyist. I understand it is extremely difficult for you to leave your young children at home today. You've made the commitment to go to D.C. What is the most powerful message you want to leave with members of Congress who will be listening to you later this morning?
MARTELLO: I think the most powerful message that we can leave is that there are lives attached to this bill and lives must be represented today in Washington. And that's why we're going as a group, to stand up for ourselves, to say that we are the people that are affected by this and we represent so many people, over 1,500 people that were also affected by this tragedy. And we need for them to understand that.
ZAHN: And, Ginny, just a final word this morning on your either level of optimism or pessimism that your efforts will make a difference.
BAUER: Oh, no, we're extremely optimistic. The American public in general has been so generous in terms of their financial support and their emotional support and I think the legislators just have to listen to their constituents and take care of us and just do what's right for us, and this is the right thing.
ZAHN: Well, you must know that all of America's thoughts are with you at this extremely difficult time of your family's life.
BAUER: Thank you.
ZAHN: Ginny Bauer, good luck. Sheila Martello, thank you, too, as well for joining us.
MARTELLO: Thank you.
BAUER: Thank you.
MARTELLO: Thank you.
ZAHN: Have a safe trip.
MARTELLO: Thank you, Paula.
BAUER: Thanks.
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