WASHINGTON -- Hillary Clinton loves her some Jon Stewart these days, and not because he's funny.
It's because he has again shined a spotlight on Congress' baffling inability to pass legislation to help ailing cops, construction workers and firefighters who answered the call on and after Sept. 11, 2001.
The issue is especially personal for Clinton, who was less than a year into her first term as the senator from New York when the planes hit the twin towers. Clinton sponsored the first bills in the Senate to aid 9/11 first responders.
Her campaign made a point of singling out Stewart with a blog post Friday, saying "Jon Stewart went back on The Daily Show to send Republicans a message. He’s right: Congress should be ashamed."
The campaign also posted a piece highlighting a responder who was grateful to Clinton, and on Thursday Clinton herself went on Twitter to chastise Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was the target of Stewart's wrath in his return to "The Daily Show."
McConnell pledged Friday that he would get the bill passed, but details were still being negotiated Friday afternoon.
The new measure will replace the old James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which began expiring at the end of last September. Some 33,000 responders get treatment through the program and more than 70,000 get annual monitoring through it.
The new bill is expected to be attached to the massive omnibus spending bill that must pass next week to keep the government open.