Mr. President, I am introducing a bill that would require that tap water be tested for perchlorate, and would ensure the public's right to know about perchlorate in their drinking water. I am pleased that the senior Senator from…
Mr. President, I am introducing a bill that would require that tap water be tested for perchlorate, and would ensure the public's right to know about perchlorate in their drinking water. I am pleased that the senior Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein, and the senior Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Lautenberg, have joined as original cosponsors of this measure.
This toxin is a clear and present danger to California's and much of America's health, and EPA needs to get moving and protect our drinking water now. But until a perchlorate tap water standard is set, something must be done.
Therefore, my perchlorate monitoring and right to know bill will require that: EPA first swiftly set a health advisory for perchlorate that protects pregnant women, infants and children; second, that EPA order monitoring of drinking water for perchlorate until an enforceable standard is set; and, third, that the public be told about perchlorate and its health effects, if it is detected in their drinking water supply.
Drinking water sources for more than 20 million Americans are contaminated with perchlorate. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that perchlorate contamination has been found in water and soil at almost 400 sites in the U.S., with levels ranging from 4 parts per billion to millions of parts per billion. Perchlorate has polluted 35 States and the District of Columbia, and is known to have contaminated 153 public water systems in 26 States.
As we know, perchlorate can harm human health, especially that of pregnant women and children. Therefore, all citizens whose tap water system contains perchlorate have a right to know about that contamination, and about its potential health consequences. Only if their water is tested, and only if all systems are obligated to disclose the contamination and its health effects, will we be assured that the public is given the information that they deserve to protect themselves and their families.
EPA's original 1999 rule for monitoring of tap water for unregulated contaminants ordered testing for perchlorate. Just last year, on August 22, 2005, EPA proposed to extend the requirement that perchlorate be monitored in drinking water. However, on December 20, 2006, the Administrator reversed himself and signed a final rule removing perchlorate from the list of contaminants for which monitoring is required under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation. I was shocked by this action.
As a result of this new rule, Americans will not be assured of up-to- date information on whether their tap water is contaminated with this toxin. Until EPA sets a tap water standard for perchlorate, at the very least we should know if it's in our drinking water.
My bill will ensure that EPA acts swiftly to require water systems to test for and to inform the public about this threat to our health and welfare. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important legislation.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be printed in the Record.
Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Healthy Students Act, a bill that addresses the rising epidemic of childhood obesity.
Over the past 30 years, obesity rates have doubled for teenagers and tripled for children ages 6 to 11. Today, more than 30 percent of children in America are overweight and more than 15 percent are obese. As a result, more children are suffering from traditionally adult diseases--including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol--and putting their health in great danger.
While the reasons for the growing number of obese children problems are complex, the underlying problem is simple. Children are becoming obese because they are eating too much unhealthy food and getting too little exercise.
Vending machines are in too many of our schools. Children today eat five times as much fast food as they did 30 years ago. And the number of students who eat green vegetables ``nearly every day or more'' has dropped to only 30 percent.
Children are getting too little exercise. Nearly 23 percent of children ages 9-13 do not engage in any free-time physical activity during the school day, and nearly 60 percent do not participate in any kind of organized sports or physical activity program outside of school.
Also, the lack of qualified health professionals (school nurses)-- compounded with the access to them--is taking an adverse toll on children's health in our public schools. With just one licensed nurse for every 1,155 students, too many children don't have access to a caring health care professional who can diagnose illness, administer medicine, handle emergencies, or treat injuries.
We should ensure that during the school day, children have access to better nutrition and health care, more physical activity, and the skills necessary for a lifetime of good health. And that's what the Healthy Students Act will do.
First, the bill creates a commission of children's health experts to review existing school nutrition guidelines and develop new, healthier standards that provide more fresh fruits and vegetables and eliminate food of minimal nutritional value.
Second, the bill creates a grant program for school nutrition pilot programs that promote alternative healthful food promotion in its curriculum and lunch program.
I have seen firsthand what can be accomplished with such innovative programs. For example in Berkeley, California, the ``Edible Schoolyard'' program is changing the way kids eat and learn about nutrition. Schools in the Edible Schoolyard program maintain an organic garden and integrate the garden into both the curriculum and
lunch program. This hands-on approach educates students on healthy eating--from planting, to harvesting, to their plates. By teaching kids about the connection between what they eat and where it comes from, we can help them develop good nutrition habits that will last a lifetime.
Third, the bill creates a ``Healthy Hour'' pilot program that provides funding for an additional hour to the school day either before, after or during school--set aside specifically for physical activity. As more and more schools have cut recess and physical education classes, the bill provides funding for programs that extend physical activity time and highlight the importance of exercise for children in schools across the country.
Fourth, to make sure that children have the equipment they need, the bill provides tax incentives to individuals and businesses to donate exercise and gymnasium equipment to schools and organizations serving students.
And fifth, to address the shortage of qualified health care professionals in schools, the bill creates a tuition loan forgiveness program for those who earn a degree in nursing and make a minimum 3- year commitment to work in a public elementary or secondary school. We are saying to prospective nurses: If you make an investment in helping kids, then we will make an investment in you.
Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic that we must address now. I urge my colleagues to support the Healthy Students Act to ensure that all children have the health they need to achieve their dreams.
Mr. President, last year many Americans paid over $3--and in some places in California, $4--for a gallon of gasoline.
At the same time, oil companies made record profits. Enough is enough!
We need to help the American public and reduce our dependence on oil. The Federal Government should be taking the lead on this issue. Sadly, it is not.
In 2005, the Federal Government purchased 64,000 passenger vehicles. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average fuel economy of the new vehicles purchased for the fleet in 2005 was an abysmal 21.4 miles per gallon.
Today, hybrid cars on the market can achieve over 50 miles per gallon and SUVs can obtain 36 miles per gallon. The Government's average of 21.4 miles to the gallon is too low.
Instead, our government needs to purchase fuel-efficient cars, SUVs, and light trucks. This can be done today. I drive a Toyota Prius that gets over 50 mpg. The Ford Escape SUV can get 36 mpg.
The Federal Government should be a leader in protecting our environment and national security.
That is why I am reintroducing the Government Fleet Fuel Economy Act. The bill requires the federal government to purchase vehicles that are fuel-efficient to the greatest extent possible.
Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation that would order EPA to promptly establish a health advisory and then a drinking water standard for perchlorate. I am pleased that the Senior Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein, and the Senior Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Lautenberg, have joined as original cosponsors of this measure.
This legislation will require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a standard for perchlorate contamination in drinking water supplies by December 31, 2007. EPA still has not committed to establishing a tap water standard for this widespread contaminant, decades after learning that perchlorate is a problem in our drinking water.
Perchlorate is a clear and present danger to California's and much of America's health. We cannot wait any longer to address this threat. EPA needs to get moving and protect our drinking water now.
Drinking water sources for more than 20 million Americans are contaminated with perchlorate. Perchlorate is the main ingredient in rocket fuel, which accounts for 90 percent of its use. Perchlorate is also used for ammunition, fireworks, highway safety flares, air bags, and fertilizers. It dissolves readily in many liquids, including water, and moves easily and quickly through the ground.
Perchlorate was first discovered in drinking water in 1957, and at the latest in the mid-1980s, EPA was aware that perchlorate contaminates drinking water. Since 1997, when California developed a new, more sensitive testing method that can detect perchlorate down to 4 parts per billion, perchlorate has been found in soil, groundwater, and surface water throughout the U.S.
According to a May 2005 report from the Government Accountability Office, perchlorate contamination has been detected in water and soil at almost 400 sites in the U.S., with levels ranging from 4 parts per billion to millions of parts per billion.
GAO also said that limited EPA data show that perchlorate has polluted 35 States and the District of Columbia, and is known to have contaminated 153 public water systems in 26 States. Those data likely underestimate total exposure, as illustrated by the finding
of the California Department of Health Services that perchlorate contamination has affected at least 276 drinking water wells sources and 77 drinking water systems in California alone.
The Food and Drug Administration and other scientific researchers have detected perchlorate in the United States food supply, including in lettuce, milk, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, cantaloupe, wheat, and spinach, and in human breast milk.
Perchlorate can harm human health, especially in pregnant women and children, by interfering with thyroid gland, which is needed to produce important hormones that help control human health and development. The thyroid helps to ensure children's proper mental and physical development, in addition to helping to control metabolism. Thyroid problems in expectant mothers or infants can affect babies, and result in delayed development and decreased learning capability.
The largest and most comprehensive study to date on the effects of low levels of perchlorate exposure in women was recently published by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC found that there were significant changes in thyroid hormones in women with low iodine levels who were exposed to perchlorate. The CDC researchers also found that even small increases in low-level perchlorate exposure may affect the thyroid's production of hormones in iodine deficient women. About 36 percent of women in the U.S. have iodine levels equal to or below those of the women in the study.
EPA has not established a health advisory or national primary drinking water regulation for perchlorate. Instead, the agency has established a ``Drinking Water Equivalent Level'' (DWEL) of 24.5 parts per billion for this toxin. The agency's DWEL does not take into consideration all routes of exposure to perchlorate, and has been criticized by experts for failing to sufficiently consider the body weight, unique exposure, and vulnerabilities of certain pregnant women and fetuses, infants, and children. It is based primarily upon a small human study by Greer et al., which tested a small number of adults. The DWEL also does not take into account the new much larger studies from CDC, and other data indicating potential effects at lower perchlorate levels than previously found.
Alarming levels of perchlorate have been discovered in Lake Mead and the Colorado River, the drinking water source for millions of Southern Californians. Communities in the Inland Empire, San Gabriel Valley, Santa Clara Valley, and the Sacramento area are also grappling with perchlorate contamination.
My bill will ensure that EPA acts swiftly to address this threat to our health and welfare. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important piece of legislation.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be printed in the Record.
Mr. President, today I rise to reintroduce the Early Education Act. This bill will enable children across our nation to be prepared with the initial skills and abilities to successfully begin their education.
I strongly believe that there should be a national commitment to establish that all children have access to high quality prekindergarten programs. This bill is a step forward in making that possible.
Of the nearly 8 million and 3- and 4-year-olds that could be in early education, fewer than half are enrolled in an early education program. In my State of California alone, just 65 percent of 4-year-olds are in preschool.
The result is that too many children come to school ill-prepared to learn. They lack language and social skills. Almost all experts now agree that an early education experience is one of the most effective strategies for improving later school performance.
Researchers have discovered that children have a learning capacity that can and should be developed at a much earlier age than was previously thought. The National Research Council reported that prekindergarten educational opportunities are critical in developing early language and literacy skills and preventing reading difficulties in young children.
Furthermore, studies have shown that children who participate in prekindergarten programs are less likely to be held back a grade, show greater learning retention and initiative, have better social skills, are more enthusiastic about school, and are more likely to have good attendance records.
In fact, prekindergarten programs pay for themselves in long-term benefits. It is estimated that for every dollar invested in early education, about $7 are saved in later costs.
My bill, the Early Education Act, would create a program in at least 10 States to provide one year of prekindergarten early education in the public schools. There is a 50 percent matching requilement, and the $300 million authorized annually under this bill would be used by States to supplement--not supplant--other Federal, State or local funds. This bill would serve approximately 136,000 children.
Our children need a solid foundation that builds on current education system by providing them with early learning skills. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. President, I introduce the Healthy Firefighters Act, an important bill that would protect the firefighters who respond to emergencies. The bill is inspired by the brave firefighters from the San Jacinto Ranger District, who responded to the Esperanza Incident wildfire in southern California in October of 2006.
We rely on firefighters to protect us when disaster strikes, and they selflessly place themselves in danger to provide that protection. One danger they face in the course of performing their duties is exposure to toxins--including fine particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur, formaldehyde, mercury, heavy metals, and benzene--that can have a significant negative effect on their health.
We owe it to this country's brave firefighters to minimize their sacrifice for our safety, to the greatest extent possible. My bill would require the U.S. Fire Administrator to contract with a medical research university to conduct long-term medical health monitoring of firefighters who responded to emergencies in any areas declared a disaster by the Federal Government, and provide healthcare for those firefighters who suffer health problems as a consequence of their work in those disaster areas. Pulmonary illness, neurological damage, and cardiovascular damage are examples of illnesses for which firefighters would be monitored and treated under this bill.
I urge my colleagues to consider and pass this bill to benefit firefighters, who are among this country's most heroic citizens.
Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Cellulosic Ethanol Development and Implementation Act of 2007.
As a Nation, we should be striving for greater energy independence and for more environmentally friendly sources of fuel for our automobiles. Cellulosic ethanol is fuel ethanol made from glucose, a sugar derived from the cellolose in biomass. It is chemically identical to ethanol made from food crops like corn and sugar cane. Cellulosic ethanol is more difficult to make, because cellulose is a tough structural material that gives plants their strength.
However, making ethanol from cellulose lets us tap into a much larger source of sugars, and, therefore, potentially make much larger amounts of fuel ethanol, tens of billions of gallons or more. An additional benefit is that cellulosic ethanol made from biomass is likely to produce smaller amounts of greenhouse gases than corn ethanol, and far less greenhouse gases than gasoline it will replace. With continued technology improvements, it should be cheaper than gasoline. Because it is locally made, it reduces the need for oil imports.
An April 2005 study by the Department of Energy and Agriculture indicates that the country currently has a supply of biomass sufficient to displace 30 percent of the country's present petroleum use.
I am introducing this bill because I believe we should be doing more to harness our Nation's cellulosic ethanol potential. I have been a strong proponent of using alternative transportation fuels and efficiency measures to reduce oil dependence. Last Congress, we took a good first step in the development of cellulosic ethanol. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, known as EPAct 05, requires that at least one-third of the Nation's ethanol be produced from cellulose by 2013.
In addition, EPAct 05 also created a new ethanol section of the Clean Air Act (Section 212). In that section, one subsection, section 212(e), includes language I authored to establish a new cellulosic production conversion assistance grant program. That program, housed at the Department of Energy, provides financial assistance to encourage the building of new cellulosic facilities in the U.S. The program was authorized to receive $250 million in fiscal year 2006 and $400 million in fiscal year 2007.
Though Congress has taken the steps I've just described, I believe we can and should do more, and the bill I introduce today does just that.
It would add two new cellulosic ethanol programs to the Clean Air Act. The first is a new competitive grant program for cellulosic motor vehicle fuel research and demonstration projects. Funded at $1 billion over 6 years, universities, Federal and State research labs, private industry, nonprofit groups, or partnerships between any of these groups, would be able to compete for funds.
My bill would also create a new pilot program for the installation of ethanol fuel pumps at gas stations or any other needed infrastructure required to dispense ethanol fuel, such as a storage tank, for example. Funded at $1 billion over 6 years, the same entities that would participate in the research section of the bill would also be able to compete for funds under this program. Successful applicants would have to provide 20 percent of the grant in matching funds.
Finally, my bill also extends the authorization for the original cellulosic grant program that is currently authorized in EPAct 05. The authorization expires at the end of this year, and the bill I introduce today would extend it at $400 million per year thru 2010. This extension will ensure the program continues.
As Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, I believe that our Nation's energy policy must focus on conservation, improvements in energy efficiency, and the development of clean, renewable energy technology. I continue to support measures to accomplish these goals, including the promotion of cellulosic ethanol. I believe this bill is an important next step in achieving these objectives. I ask content that a copy of the bill be printed in the Record.