The House passed a bill permanently reauthorizing the 9/11 victim fund, but Jon Stewart isn't feeling 'celebratory'

The House of Representatives on Friday easily passed a bill to permanently reauthorize the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. But former Daily Show host Jon Stewart isn't ready to celebrate just yet.

The House in a 402-12 vote on Friday authorized the fund providing health care for 9/11 first responders through 2090, CNN reports. Now, the fight moves to the Senate, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said a vote will take place before the upcoming August recess, The Washington Post reports.

Stewart, who for years has lobbied Congress to reauthorize the fund and put lawmakers on blast in a fiery rant on Capitol Hill last month, told MSNBC on Friday he'll hold McConnell to this promise of a vote before the recess. The comedian also said that "it's hard to feel optimistic or confident given the past history, but we're hoping this passes the Senate and that this community can finally exhale and go home and deal with the grief and burdens that they've been dealing with all along."

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Stewart also spoke to Fox News and said that there's "always going to be a little bit of shock that it's been this hard a fight and that it's taken this long," adding that the need to reauthorize the fund is "urgent." But as to whether today is cause for celebration, Stewart told CNN, "it's hard to be celebratory when people do their jobs." Brendan Morrow