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Contact: Charles Carrier (518) 455-3888 |
For Immediate Release: November 7, 2001 |
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Assembly Holds Hearing on WTC Attack Contributions Silver Stresses Importance of Ensuring $1B In Contributions Go To Victims, Families |
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Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver convened a public hearing in Manhattan today to ensure that the more than $1.2 billion in charitable contributions donated to victims of the September 11 terror attacks are "directed to the people for whom they were intended." Silver (D-Manhattan), whose legislative district includes the ground zero site, called the public hearing "to get a handle on just how much money has been pledged, how much has been raised, and for what needs it will be disbursed." "There is a palpable concern among contributors about what will ultimately happen to their charitable dollars," said Silver. "We firmly believe that they deserve a full and accurate accounting of how their contributions have been and will be employed." The hearing was co-chaired by Assemblymembers RoAnn M. Destito (D-Utica), chair of the Assembly Committee on Governmental Operations; Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn), chair of the Assembly Codes Committee; Helene Weinstein (D-Brooklyn), chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and Assemblyman Scott M. Stringer (D-Manhattan), chair of the Assembly Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation. Among those who testified at the hearing were New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; Robert Bender, executive director, New York Red Cross; Michael Farley, vice-president, American Red Cross; Joshua Gotbaum, executive director of the September 11 Fund, and Pamela Delaney, NYC Police Foundation. Speaker Silver added, "We are fully committed to bringing about a process that will swiftly and efficiently apply the healing benefits of generosity to the enormous suffering of the families who lost loved ones as a result of the September 11 tragedy." -30-
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