A bill that would provide up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust is in danger of stalling in Congress.
Some supporters said Thursday it doesn't have the two-thirds support required to pass under the parliamentary procedure used by House Democrats to bring it to a vote.
A failure of the bill would raise the possibility that the bulk of compensation for sick 9/11 responders would come from a legal settlement hammered out in the federal courts.
For weeks now, a judge and teams of lawyers have been urging 10,000 police officers, firefighters and construction workers to sign on to the settlement.
Under the court deal, workers with respiratory problems would split up to $713 million.
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