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Congress Is Again Weighing Aid for Ground Zero Rescuers 

Testifying before a House Judiciary subcommittee in Washington, Ms. Burnette said her lungs were damaged by inflammation and scarring as a result of weeks she spent in rescue and recovery efforts in the dust at ground zero in 2001. But because her illness did not manifest itself immediately, she said in testimony carried on the Internet, she missed the Dec. 22, 2003, deadline for applying for compensation from the Victim Compensation Fund that Congress established after the attack.

The committee is considering a bill introduced in February by Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, a New York City Democrat, that would reopen the fund to new claimants. A similar effort died in Congress last year. . . .

Dr. James Melius, administrator of the New York State Laborers' Health and Safety Trust Fund, a labor-management fund for construction workers, said "there should not be a great deal of difficulty" identifying people whose problems related to work at ground zero, "as opposed to cigarette smoking."

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