Gov. Andrew Cuomo paid tribute Wednesday to the late NYPD Detective Luis Alvarez, who delivered stirring testimony urging Congress to permanently extend the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund in June — just weeks before he died of 9/11-related cancer.

Alvarez, who underwent 69 bouts of chemotherapy, was gaunt when he testified with comedian-9/11 activist Jon Stewart before a lightly attended congressional hearing.

“I should not be here with you but you made me come,” Alvarez told a House Judiciary Committee panel.

His courageous presence spurred both houses of Congress and President Trump to extend the 9/11 health compensation fund for the rest of the century. The law was also named in his honor.

The 9/11 event at the Javits Center opened with a video tribute to Alvarez, which showed his testimony before Congress.

Cuomo then presented his wife, Lainie, and two sons, David and Tyler, with the Governor’s Medal of Public Service.

“No one said you had to do it, but it was the right thing to do,” Cuomo said of Alvarez, who was assigned to the NYPD bomb squad and worked at Ground Zero on recovery efforts after the terrorist attacks.

“And he developed cancer, and he suffered with that cancer. Over 69 chemo treatments to get the cancer under control. And his family who is here today suffered with him year after year, Lainie, Tyler and David.”

But Alvarez continued to be an advocate for others sickened by 9/11 exposure, even though his days were numbered, the governor said.

“And then as he knew he was dying and he knew that the days were short, what did he do? Did he sit at home? Did he enjoy himself? No. They said, ‘Louis, you have one more challenge. We need you to go down to Washington, DC and testify before the United States Congress, who doesn’t want to pass this Zadroga bill, which would continue the health benefits,” Cuomo said.

“And we need you, Louis, to go down and look at all those cameras and look at all those congress people and face all those questions, even though you’re sick, even though you know you’re dying, even though you’re going to chemotherapy. We need you to step up one more time.

“And what did Detective Alvarez do? He went down to Washington, literally in his last days, and he looked the Congress of the United States in the eye and he spoke the truth from his heart. And what he said was simple but powerful. He said, ‘Put your damn politics aside and remember what it means to be an American and respect those people who gave their lives to defend this nation, and pass the Zadroga bill and honor the American values.'” Cuomo continued.

“That’s what Detective Alvarez did and that’s what his family did. And that my friends is the American spirit at its best. That is American courage, that is American patriotism, that is what we all hope and aspire that we could be and we could do. And in this time of ugliness all around us, in this time of anger and in this time of fear, let’s remember what makes this country the greatest country in the world and this state the greatest state in the country.”

Cuomo then brought Alvarez’s family to the stage and presented them with the Governor’s Medal of Public Service.

He also signed five health and pension benefit bills into law to aid workers and volunteers.

One would make it easier for volunteers at the World Trade Center who work for state government to file for sick leave.

Another extends the time period for government workers to file an application for an accidental death benefit after the death of a loved from one to five years. This allows the family of members of the New York State and Local Retirement System or the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System sufficient time to apply for the benefit.

A third law provides retirees of the New York City Fire Department who are diagnosed with certain cancers or melanoma a presumption that the cancer was incurred in the performance of duties. The bill establishes a five-year look-back window, making the retirees eligible to receive disability benefits.