I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4663
To authorize funds to compensate New York City public schools for operating
and education-related expenses (including mental health and trauma
counseling and other appropriate support services), resulting from the
terrorist attack on such city on September 11, 2001.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 3, 2002
Mr. SWEENEY (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. NADLER, Mr.
TOWNS, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. RANGEL, and Mr. ENGEL) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To authorize funds to compensate New York City public
schools for operating and education-related expenses (in-
cluding mental health and trauma counseling and other
appropriate support services), resulting from the terrorist
attack on such city on September 11, 2001.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The September 11, 2001, attack on the
World Trade Center represented the single greatest
act of terrorism perpetrated against the United
States.
(2) The Federal Government has responded
quickly and provided many of the necessary re-
sources to begin the rebuilding process in New York
City, New York.
(3) September 11, 2001, had a damaging im-
pact on the 1,100,000 students, 137,000 staff mem-
bers (superintendents, principals, teachers, adminis-
trators and staff), and millions of families com-
prising the New York City public schools (referred
to in this Act as the ‘‘NYCPS’’) community.
(4) More than 1,500 students and 800 staff
members lost a family member or loved one as a re-
sult of the disaster.
(5) Faculty and staff of the NYCPS reacted
with extraordinary calm, grace, and bravery to evac-
uate and ensure that every child in their care was
safe. Their diligence prevented even a single injury
from occurring in the midst of unprecedented may-
hem.
(6) The Chancellor of the New York City Board
of Education, members of community school boards,
principals, assistant principals, teachers, and coun-
selors worked tirelessly after the event to ensure
that schools resumed classes and returned to their
regular school schedule as soon as possible. They
also worked aggressively to restore a safe, supportive
school environment and to regain normalcy and sta-
bility throughout the entire school system.
(7) The closure of certain bridges and tunnels
to Manhattan, New York City, New York, in the
aftermath of the disaster, impacted not only Man-
hattan-resident students. Approximately 50,000 stu-
dents (a population that exceeds the individual stu-
dent enrollments of school districts for the cities of
Atlanta, Georgia, Oakland, California, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, and Seattle, Washington) from other
boroughs that attend school in Manhattan were af-
fected by travel disruptions and lost instructional
time.
(8) Extended classroom instruction is needed
for all students who lost valuable lesson time as a
result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
Without this extra help, student performance on
high-stakes standardized tests may suffer. Failure to
prepare students adequately for State and city ex-
aminations will increase the risk for such students to
repeat a grade and further strain the already limited
resources of the school system.
(9) A recent study commissioned by the Board
of Education of the City of New York, New York,
and conducted by Applied Research and Consulting
and the Columbia University School of Public
Health found profound effects since September 11,
2001, on the mental health of schoolchildren across
New York City, New York, not just those in close
proximity to Ground Zero. Their report indicates
that more than a fourth of New York City school-
children surveyed in the 4th through 12th grades
are suffering from at least one trauma-related dis-
order in the wake of last fall’s attack on the World
Trade Center. These disorders include major depres-
sion (8.4 percent), posttraumatic stress (10.5 per-
cent), agoraphobia (15 percent), separation anxiety
(12.3 percent), acting out (10.9 percent), general
anxiety (10.3 percent), and panic anxiety (9.3 per-
cent).
(10) Based on the findings of this study,
NYCPS needs additional resources for mental health
and trauma counseling and other appropriate sup-
port services to meet the mental health needs of stu-
dents impacted by the single worst terrorist attack
in the United States.
(11) The NYCPS system incurred significant
expenses as a result of the terrorist attack. These
costs include clean up and repair costs, loss of text-
books and classroom supplies, and transportation
and food revenue losses. The Federal Emergency
Management Agency and other Federal agencies
have yet to provide adequate resources to address
these losses.
(12) The Federal Government provided re-
sources to the school systems of Miami-Dade, Flor-
ida, Los Angeles, California, and Columbine, Colo-
rado after those districts incurred extraordinary ex-
penses resulting from a traumatic event or disaster.
The Government needs to partner with the New
York City public school system to ensure that it re-
ceives similar Federal assistance in the wake of this
tragedy.
(13) The President of the United States in-
structed the Federal Emergency Management Agen-
cy on September 11, 2001, to do whatever it takes
to help those affected by the terrorist attacks. The
Federal Emergency Management Agency needs to
commit to ensuring that those instructions are car-
ried out.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure
that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and
other appropriate Federal agencies have the authority and
direction to provide necessary resources to the New York
City public school system to meet any extraordinary ex-
penses resulting from the terrorist attacks of September
11, 2001 and to prevent any of the resulting financial
losses from infringing on the ability of the system to pro-
vide all school children of New York City, New York, with
a fair and equal opportunity to obtain a high-quality edu-
cation.
SEC. 2. USE OF FUNDS.
From the amounts appropriated to the Federal
Emergency Management Agency for fiscal year 2002,
$161,000,000 may be used to compensate the New York
City, New York, Board of Education for additional oper-
ational and education-related expenses (including mental
health and trauma counseling and other appropriate sup-
port services) for the period beginning September 11,
2001 and ending December 31, 2002, resulting from the
terrorist attack on New York City, New York, on Sep-
tember 11, 2001, including the following activities:
(1) Providing additional classroom instruction
time and related activities to students who lost in-
structional time as a result of the terrorist attack.
(2) The cost of providing mental health and
trauma counseling and other appropriate support
services to students suffering from trauma-related
disorders resulting from the events of September 11,
2001.
(3) The cost of providing guidance and grief
counseling and mental health services, including
overtime payment for counselors and mental health
professionals, for students and school staff.
(4) Clean up and structural inspections and re-
pairs of school facilities.
(5) Reimbursement for textbooks and other
school supplies and equipment used to support the
relocation of students from schools in the Lower
Manhattan area of New York City, New York.
(6) The cost of relocating students, including
transportation of students relocated from schools
such students attended at the beginning of the
2002–2003 school year to temporary school facilities
and reimbursement for the amount expended for the
daily rate of bus service paid by the New York City,
New York, Board of Education.
(7) Reimbursement for loss of perishable food
stock and revenue lost from food services.
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