[troutman]

https://deanobeidallah.substack.com/...f-jon-stewarts

Stewart very publicly championed funding to assist 9/11 first responders beginning back in 2010 when he was hosting The Daily Show. At the time, Congress did extend funding for ten years but by 2019 Stewart saw Congress dragging their feet to authorize additional financial resources. That is why in 2019, Stewart travelled to Capitol Hill where he shamed members of Congress to their face for their inaction. Finally, in July 2020, Congress agreed to permanently reauthorize the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

In 2022, Stewart again found himself on Capitol Hill and in the media advocating for legislation, this time for military veterans who were in desperate need of medical care after contracting medical ailments from exposure to burn pits during their service. At the time, Stewart slammed GOP Senators who were holding up the proposed legislation that had been championed by President Biden.

After the legislation finally passed, Stewart received a standing ovation at the bill signing where Biden told the comedian, “What you have done, Jon, matters, and you know it does. You should know it really, really matters.” The President added, “You refused to let anybody forget, you refused to let them forget, and we owe you big man, we owe you big.”

And as Stewart correctly flagged, you must “stay on to make sure that result holds” because as we have seen in recent years, progress can be reversed.

What people can’t debate are Stewart’s words about activism. Stewart’s own track record is a testament to that.