Luis Alvarez, a retired New York Police Department detective and 9/11 first responder who urged
Congress earlier this month to extend benefits for those who responded to the 2011 terror attacks, died on Saturday after years battling cancer.
"We told him at the end that he had won this battle by the many lives he had touched by sharing his three-year battle," his family said in a statement announcing his death. "He was at peace with that, surrounded by family."
On June 20, just days after giving emotional testimony before a House panel, Alvarez announced he was entering hospice care after complications from his treatment that caused his liver to shut down.
Alvarez joined former "Daily Show" host
Jon Stewart and other advocates to plead with Congress to reauthorize the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) on June 11. The fund created after 9/11 helps pay for medical and economic losses as a result of the terrorist attacks.
The fund is running out of money and is being forced to make drastic cuts to its payments to 9/11 victims and their families unless it is reauthorized.
The day after Alvarez and Stewart spoke, legislation to permanently reauthorize the fund passed the House Judiciary Committee.