NEWS RELEASE

Committee on Energy and Commerce
Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman

Dingell, Stupak on Public Comment Draft of CDC Great Lakes Report

Washington, D.C. – Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, commented on the release of a public comment draft report released today by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention entitled, “Selected Information on Chemical Releases within Great Lakes Counties Areas of Concern”.

The following may be attributed to Dingell:

“I am pleased that the Great Lakes report has been sent to the Institutes of Medicine for their independent review and am pleased that this report is being made publicly available for comment. However, this open scientific review is long overdue and could have occurred earlier had the report been properly handled by CDC in the first place."

“It is regrettable that it took pressure from this Committee to see this report fully released for thorough scientific review and debate. The fact that this report was delayed for almost a year raises serious questions about whether this is another example of the Administration suppressing science for political purposes.”

The following may be attributed to Stupak:

“I continue to have a number of concerns about CDC’s actions, particularly the decision to remove county-level public health data from this most recent draft. The revised draft begs the question of why CDC is just now seeking public comment on a watered down third draft of a report that was commissioned seven years ago."

“As CDC moves closer to releasing a final version, we will continue to vigorously investigate the circumstances behind the changing of the report, the handling of its release and any possible retaliation against the whistleblower who worked to bring it to light.”

The draft released today for public comment is the latest version of a Great Lakes study that was completed in July 2007, following several years of work and extensive scientific peer review. In February of this year, Dingell and Stupak launched an investigation into the withholding of this study. In March, the CDC made the report public and referred it to the Institutes of Medicine for a full scientific review.

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