Washington (CNN) The Senate passed a bill 97-2 Tuesday to fund the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund for decades, permanently compensating individuals who were injured during the 2001 terrorist attacks and their aftermath rescuing people and removing debris under hazardous conditions.

The House passed the bill earlier this month and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it.

Comedian Jon Stewart and surviving first responders including John Feal pushed Congress to pass the extension before rewards diminished and the fund expired in 2020. When it became clear the bill would overwhelmingly pass, a group of first responders and Stewart stood and clapped in the visitor's gallery above the Senate floor.

"For tens of thousands of people that are waiting to hear the outcome of this, my heart bleeds with joy, knowing that so many people are going to get help," Feal told CNN. "Everything we asked for, we got."

Feal said he gave 15 years of his life to the cause and the passage of the bill would change him. "I get to physically and mentally heal," Feal said.

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