Stamp Act Honors 9-11 Rescue Workers

Efforts to create a U.S. postage stamp honoring EMS workers have been underway for years, and it seems likely those efforts will be rewarded in 2002. On Sept. 17, 2001, U.S. Representative Gerry Ackerman (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation to create the Sept. 11 Heroes Stamp Act of 2001. The act would require the US Postal Service to issue a special commemorative stamp to honor rescue workers and raise funds to provide assistance to the families of those killed in the terrorist attacks, as well as the emergency personnel permanently disabled in the attacks.

Jordan Goldes, a spokesman for Rep. Ackerman, tells JEMS the new stamp will cost 45 cents, with the extra 11 cents per stamp funding the relief and assistance prescribed by the act, much as the breast cancer stamp (issued in 1988 and the only other special cause stamp in US history) raises money for research.

Congress passed the bill, and it has been signed by the president, so the stamp could be issued by the end of 2002. Congressman Ackerman's office has suggested a design featuring emergency workers in the foreground and the World Trade Center in the background, but at press time no preliminary designs were ready for public release.

~ Dave Kelley

(found in JEMS February 2002, page 16)