WASHINGTON – Luis Alvarez, a 9/11 first responder who urged Congress just weeks ago to extend benefits for those who responded to the 2001 terror attacks, died on Saturday after years battling cancer. He was 53.

Alvarez had entered hospice care a week after his emotional June 11 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee with former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart. The two pushed for the permanent reauthorization of the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, created after the attacks for medical and economic losses for victims and their families.

"We told him at the end that he had won this battle by the many lives he had touched by sharing his three-year battle," his family said in a statement announcing his death. "He was at peace with that, surrounded by family."

Alvarez, a retired New York Police Department detective who joined the agency in 1990, was one of the many first responders who helped sort through the debris left from the attacks. He also searched for survivors in the aftermath, all the while breathing in clouds of toxic air that the government, at the time, said was safe.

The testimony:Jon Stewart slammed Congress over a 9/11 fund bill. The next day, a house panel passed it

Years later, Alvarez would get cancer and become a champion for the fund, which is running out of money and has to make steep cuts to its payments unless it’s reauthorized.

With Stewart by his side, Alvarez told the House panel of his own health troubles while asking them reauthorize the fund.

"Less than 24 hours from now I will be starting my 69th round of chemotherapy, yeah, you heard that correctly…I will not stand by and watch as my friends with cancer from 9/11 like me are valued less than anyone else," Alvarez testified.

Alvarez:9/11 first responder who testified with Jon Stewart in Congress enters hospice care

Stewart, in an impassioned speech, lambasted Congress for not acting to reauthorize the fund,

"I'm going to make sure that you never forget to take care of the 9/11 responders," a frail Alvarez said.

The committee approved the bill the next day.

On June 20, just days after Alvarez and Stewart appeared before Congress and garnered headlines about the 9/11 fund, Alvarez announced he was entering hospice care after complications related to colorectal cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 2016. The cancer spread and caused his liver to shut down.

In his last television interview before his death, Alvarez continued lobbying for Congress to help those 9/11 first responders. He told Fox News that his duty on that fateful day meant he would now leave his three children without a father.

"I'm nobody special. I did what all the other guys did and now we're paying the price for it," he said from his hospice bed. "We did our job, now Congress has to do theirs."

Alvarez, who got sick 16 years after 9/11, said he turned his career in law enforcement into becoming an advocate because he felt he had no choice.

Jon Stewart and Alvarez:Jon Stewart, first responders, give emotional testimony before Congress on 9/11 victim fund

"There’s workers out there who say, ‘This isn’t going to happen to me. I’m OK. The time has passed.’ The time doesn’t – is not going to pass. There's going to be more and more and more responders getting sick," he told Fox News. "I'll do whatever I have to see my brothers and sisters who aren't covered, get the coverage they need and the help they need."

New York Police commissioner James O'Neill lauded Alvarez's legacy and his strength.

"Our NYPD family & all 1st responders mourn as we remember retired NYPD Bomb Squad Det. Luis Alvarez, who passed this morning," O'Neill said. "His strength – physical, mental & emotional – led us all, & we vow to #NeverForget him or his legacy — which was, simply, to have others do what’s right."

Sen. Mitch McConnell promised to address the fund and met with 9/11 first responders on Tuesday.

Stewart and McConnell:Jon Stewart slams Mitch McConnell over 9/11 victim fund on Stephen Colbert's show

Contributing: Nicholas Wu