The Late Show with Stephen Colbert brings in Jon Stewart

With Jon Stewart on hand, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert brought humor and heart to a bill currently going through Congress.

As Jon Stewart has pointed out, the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund should, relatively speaking, be something that everyone can agree on, even politically. And yet, come December 2020, it’ll expire again, unless a bill is passed into law to continue the fund past that date.

Congress being Congress, it’s always best to start earlier rather than later on these sorts of things. Stewart has testified already — twice — and with there being a less-than-welcoming response, he’s also taken to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to continue advocating for this cause.

Colbert made the inevitable Moby Dick extension to Stewart’s “white whale” reference in earlier tape, right before Stewart popped out from behind the desk to deliver some self-deprecating humor and a passionate defense of why he takes this fund so seriously and won’t stop advocating.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt them with their jobs!” Stewart said in response to Senator Mitch McConnell’s defense that members of Congress are busy, with Colbert trying not to laugh too much off to the side. Perhaps the thing that got the most applause was Stewart telling McConnell to “meet with them,” referring to the people who survived and were first responders during 9/11 and who are affected by this bill.

This has been a cause of Stewart’s since 2010, and if it hasn’t been clear that he legitimately cares about this, his Senate testimony last week or just the fact that he’s been working on this since the first time the bill was brought back in 2010 should say it all.

Here’s some of his most recent testimony:

Here’s the other thing: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert does well in the ratings, and that doesn’t count the views that the show gets on YouTube and social media with its clips. A younger generation is starting to come of age and learn about this.

Yes, it’s hard to figure out what issue you should care most about — especially when politics is so fraught — but it’s not impossible to care about a lot of things, and take caring about them one day at a time or finding something that works for or resonates with you.

Keep an eye on this bill.