U.S. President George W. Bush held a private meeting Wednesday with Ceasar Borja, Jr., the son of a Sept. 11 first responder who died last week waiting for a lung transplant.

Borja Jr., 21, has been on a crusade in his father's name to get funding for other first responders who have become ill.

During the meeting, Borja, Jr. said he asked the federal government to completely fund any medical treatment for anyone suffering from a Sept. 11 related illness.

Borja, Jr., who brought his mother and siblings to the meeting with the president, showed Bush a picture of his father and gave him the Mass card from his funeral.

Borja's story first rose to the national spotlight when Senator Hillary Clinton invited him to attend the President's State of the Union address to highlight his father's plight. The Senator then sent a letter to the president urging him to meet Borja.

On Tuesday, the White House said that it will budget 25 million U.S. dollars to help ailing Sept. 11 workers. The money is set aside for programs at Mount Sinai Medical Center and for New York City fire fighters.

Ceasar Borja, Sr. was an officer of the New York Police Department (NYPD) who spent countless hours at the World Trade Center site in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

According to statistics from Mount Sinai hospital, out of the 19,000 workers the hospital have screened, seven out of every 10 have suffered lung problems.

Protesters at a rally by the the Ground Zero on Wednesday said that 25 million dollars are hardly enough to treat the looming health care problems.

The White House called the money a starting point and said it will consider more funding in the future.

Source: Xinhua