A compromise bill to provide free medical treatment and compensation to first responders of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack won final approval Wednesday from the House and Senate, sending it to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.

The bill passed on a voice vote in the Senate, and then on a 206-60 vote in the House on the final day of the lame-duck session of Congress.

Jubilant Democrats hailed the last-minute approval as a $4.2 billion triumph for firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel who put themselves in harm's way to help others in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attack.

Even though the vote was kept open for more than an hour, 168 House members did not participate. Missing were 89 Republicans, including incoming Speaker John Boehner, and 79 Democrats.

Still, there was a quorum -- a simple majority of 435 House members -- to vote on the bill.

Many House members also were absent Tuesday. Some likely went home for the holidays after the earlier funding votes, while others were members who are retiring or lost re-election bids.

The vote was the last by the House for the year, as it later adjourned until January 5, when a new Congress will be sworn in and Boehner takes the speaker's gavel.

Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who presided over the chamber for the conclusion of Wednesday's vote, said the discussion was "about holy and sacred ground."

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who acknowledged that approval of the bill was in doubt until a few hours before the vote, called it a "great day" for the nation -- and especially for first responders sickened by exposure to toxic pollution from the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, because now they know their country will take care of them.

In New York, outgoing Democratic Gov. David Paterson said the bill "will provide much-needed funds for medical treatment to the rescue workers and residents of New York City who suffered illnesses from breathing in toxic fumes, dust and smoke from ground zero." He said it also reopens the victims' compensation fund for rescue workers who were hurt as a result of the attacks.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Senate's approval of the bill "affirms our nation's commitment to protecting those who protect us all," and some of those first responders also welcomed the development but questioned why it took so long.