Even 24 years later, those of us who lived through that horrific September morning still remember the sight of a clear blue sky turned gray with ash, the sound of sirens from fire trucks that sped into downtown Manhattan and never returned, and the putrid smell of burnt metal and concrete that lingered over New York City and its suburbs for days.

On this anniversary, we remember, and mourn, the thousands of people who died on Sept. 11, 2001, and the thousands of first responders and others who've since lost their lives due to illnesses contracted from the toxic fumes they breathed day after day following the terrorist attacks. Nearly 50,000 first responders and others have been diagnosed with 9/11-related cancers; more than 9,000 of them certified in the last year alone.

Yet, even as tho

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