NY GOP candidate: 9/11 volunteers shouldn't be covered by health bill

The Republican vying for the congressional seat left vacant by former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) says that a 9/11 health care law shouldn't cover workers who volunteered at Ground Zero.

Bob Turner told The New York Daily News Editorial Board Tuesday that the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 was "a little too broad."

"My call would be to protect police, fire, emergency workers, construction workers, etc.," he explained.

"If someone said, 'I volunteered' or walked through there, it's just not the type."

Turner added that while he would have voted for the bill had he been in Congress at the time, he doesn't believe it's pefect.

"I probably couldn't go home if I didn't support the Zadroga bill. I have firemen in my family, but is that bill beyond criticism? No."

Activist John Feal, who lost half of his foot volunteering at Ground Zero, believes that the Republican Party should be ashamed of their candidate.

"For Bob Turner to turn his back on those New Yorkers, but use images of the burning towers in campaign ads - a circus monkey can out-politic Bob Turner, he's an embarrassment to the Republican Party," he said.

Weiner, who resigned in June after lewd photos of him surfaced on Twitter, blasted House Republicans last year for refusing to support the Zadroga bill.

The legislation passed several months later, with 59 House Republicans voting against the measure.

Democratic candidate David Weprin held a slim six-point lead over Turner in the latest Siena Research Institute poll, although Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-to-1 in the district. The special election to fill Weiner's seat will be held September 13.