Don't stop at Ground Zero

The idea behind cutting back on the number of firefighters at Ground Zero is absurd. By scaling efforts now, New York officials are simply delaying the time for everyone to get over the tragedy of Sept. 11.\n Hundreds of firefighters protested last Friday against a change in city policy that limits the number of firefighters and police officers to 25 from each department. These firefighters tangled with police, trying to get past a barracade toward the World Trade Center.\n By cutting back the number of employees, New York is just taking longer to overcome the battle it is already faced with.\n But stopping firefighters who want to help out, New York is not accomplishing anything. We need to remember that this issue hits close to home for firefighters. There are still more than 200 firefighters as well as thousands of civilians buried in the rubble.\nWhy are we not in a hurry to put this issue behind us? Why would New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani want to limit the number of firefighters and police officers to 25 from each department? \nOvertime is being paid to those who work at Ground Zero. This is not an effort by those who work the extra hours to pad their pocketbooks. Those who work an extra eight-hour shift are looking for closure. They want to see another building in the World Trade Center's place.\nWe need to put the Sept. 11 attacks behind us. This needs to be done as fast as possible. There is room in the budget to fund these people working overtime. The problem isn't the amount of people there. \nLet's move on, stop the rioting and finish this problem as soon as possible.