VIDEO: Comedian Jon Stewart is bringing a serious message to Congress, this time: Extend the compensation program for survivors of and responders to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The former "Daily Show" host, union officials and survivor groups are scheduled to visit Washington on Monday to call on Congress to provide additional funding for and make permanent the Victim Compensation Fund, according to the office of Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat.
House and Senate lawmakers are set to introduce legislation Monday, her office said.
The VCF is set to expire in 2020, and the Special Master who runs it recently announced plans to cut payouts by between 50% and 70% to ensure all are paid.
"These first responders and these survivors, they came down to the site as fast as they could and they stayed there for months, tenaciously searching first as a rescue operation and then as a recovery operation," Stewart told CNN's Brianna Keilar on Monday.