WASHINGTON — Familiar faces returned to the US Capitol this week, but with fewer numbers than before.

"A lot of the men and women who I brought here over the last 15 years, uniform and non-uniform, are dead,” said John Feal, a retired FDNY first responder and founder of the FealGood Foundation, and advocacy group to help the victims of 9/11 and their families. "For many in America, 9/11 is over, but for these men and women its the longest day in the history of days. It hasn’t ended.”

Feal, along with other first responders, came to Washington to lobby lawmakers to pass the Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act. If passed through Congress and signed into law by President Trump, the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund would receive full funding and become a permanent financial resource for first responders and others who are suffering from illness due to their involvement during or after the 9/11 attacks.

Among those who came to Washington, former Daily Show Host Jon Stewart pushed Senate Republicans to take action during a press conference held Monday afternoon. "18 years later, can we just bring some peace? These families will never get closure but maybe we can ease their stress slightly and do the right thing by them,” he told NY1.

The new bi-partisan legislation would also ensure that the current VCF fiscal crisis is addressed. Administrators announced the fund was running out of money due to an increase in claimants and new illnesses being discovered. A proposed solution would cut payouts to victims by as much as 50-70 percent.

“We designed the Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) to ensure that the tens of thousands of responders and survivors battling 9/11-related illnesses, and those who may not yet know they are sick, have the resources they need,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). “It is imperative that we pass this bill as quickly as possible to make the VCF permanent and ensure the firefighters, police officers, federal and local law enforcement officers, medical workers, construction workers, and other heroes who selflessly rushed to Ground Zero to help have access to the care they deserve.”

“Just over a week ago, 9/11 heroes all over the country learned the horrible news that the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund will need to make severe cuts," said U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand. "Cancer rates in the 9/11 first responder community are rising faster than ever before, and that means our 9/11 heroes are going to need the VCF more urgently than ever before. Congress must not sit idly by ignoring this suffering and passing it off as someone else’s problem while drastic cuts are made to the VCF program,” Gillibrand continued. “We must pass this bipartisan bill to make the VCF permanent with full funding so that when our 9/11 heroes get that terrifying call from the doctor, they’ll at least have the peace of mind that the VCF will be there for them and their families. We must honor our 9/11 heroes, and that means giving them the support they earned and deserve and urgently need.”

Advocates plan to return to Capitol Hill again this week to lobby lawmakers into passing the bill.