The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill ensuring health benefits and economic aid for 9/11 first responders.

The unanimous vote came as a radical turnaround from just two weeks earlier when the bill had been struck down in the Senate by conservative Republicans who staunchly opposed the measure's price tag.

PBS reports, "But a renewed push by New York legislators -- and renewed media attention -- has given the bill new momentum as the lame-duck session of Congress winds down. More public attention has shifted toward the bill in the last couple of weeks, credited in large part to Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, who devoted an episode of 'The Daily Show' to the issue last week."

The scaled-down bill calls for a 5-year, $4.3 billion compensation package for the first responders of the terrorist attacks. The original bill, for a 10-year, $7.4 ibllion package, was trimmed substantially to win GOP support.

Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats, hailed the deal as a “Christmas miracle.”

“Over the last 24 hours, our Republican colleagues have negotiated in good faith to forge a workable final package that will protect the health of the men and women who selflessly answered our nation’s call in her hour of greatest need,” they said in a statement. “This has been a long process, but we are now on the cusp of the victory these heroes deserve.”

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tweeted after the vote, "Senate (finally) passes 9/11 health bill..."

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, one of the strongest Republican opponents to the bill's cost, expressed satisfaction with the final compromise.

"I'll stand in the way of anything that doesn't make sense and doesn't spend our money wisely, so you know, it doesn't matter what the issue is, we're in such a hole, Jon, that we don't have the luxury of not getting things right," Coburn told ABC News' Jonathan Karl. "And so we've come to an agreement that costs less, doesn't allow double-dipping, doesn't allow exorbitant lawyer fees, and we've worked it out and so we're going to take care of the folks, but we're going to do it in a way that doesn't punish the people that are going to pay the bill."

Dave Weigel at Slate has a list of the changes made in the compromise, which include:

- Permanently Close the Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) after 5 years.  The original bill kept the VCF open through 2031, making it extremely susceptible to waste, fraud and abuse and incurring significant long-term costs.  The fund is now open only through 2016 and has language to expressly say that it is permanently closed at after 5 years.

- Limitations on Attorneys Fees.  Places a hard cap for attorneys’ fees at 10 percent of the total award and allows the Special Master to reduce attorneys fees he believes are excessive.

- Commitment to ensure eligible individuals cannot “double-dip” on benefits.   The Senators all agreed to get in writing from the Special Master that he will include workers compensation benefits in collateral sources of benefits that he must offset from potential compensation awards.

The House of Representatives is expected to stay in session to pass the bill.

In the event of a vote in the Senate on Wednesday, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told members of the House Tuesday, "I would be asking all of you to stay tonight and be here tomorrow so that we can convene and do this very, very important business which is not just important to the New Yorkers [but] important to our country."