Washington (CNN) Former late night host and 9/11 first responders advocate Jon Stewart said Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has never been compassionate in his congressional dealings when it comes to passing health care packages for first responders.

"In terms of getting the 9/11 bills passed, Mitch McConnell has been the white whale of this since 2010," Stewart said on "Fox News Sunday." "This has never been dealt with compassionately by Sen. McConnell." Stewart appeared to reference the character Capt. Ahab's inability to capture the notoriously hard-to-catch albino whale in Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick."

"He has always held out until the last minute, and only then after intense lobbying and public shaming has he even deigned to move on it," he said.

McConnell, who has not come out on either side of the proposed legislation, said at a news conference that day, "We've always dealt with that in the past in a compassionate way, and I assume we will again."

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