Today the Committee marks up three bills. H.R. 3866 actually does something directly to protect the health of our citizens, and I support it. H.R. 2771 gives a boost to small environmental demonstration projects in New York, which I do not oppose, but it ignores the broader needs of the country. And House Resolution 516 is a nice statement of sentiment, but we should also be doing something tangible for manufacturing jobs.

H.R. 3866, the "Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004," will increase penalties for anabolic steroid offenses near sports facilities, will require manufacturers of steroids designated or scheduled as controlled substances to register with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and will require strict accountability for the sale, prescription, and dispensing of anabolic steroids. This legislation has been endorsed by groups representing both the medical and sports communities, including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the American Medical Association.

H.R. 3866 is a good, bipartisan bill. I support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same, but it could have been better. In particular, in defining the term "anabolic steroid" the bill exempts DHEA. In its natural form DHEA is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland, and DHEA supplements are used to boost testosterone and build muscle. DHEA should not necessarily be legislatively listed along with the anabolic steroids specified in the bill, but it should not be exempted from administrative inclusion as an anabolic steroid in the future should circumstances warrant.

Next we have H.R. 2771, a rather modest proposal elevated in importance only by its status as the only measure marked up by the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials this Congress. Today, on Earth Day, it would have been appropriate to be considering more meaningful environmental legislation. But, for some reason, action on a bipartisan interstate waste bill has been stalled, and inadequate Brownfields funding that limits economic redevelopment efforts has been ignored. And even more curious, core provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act whose authorizations have also expired have not been addressed. For example, why aren't we today reauthorizing the State Revolving Loan Fund, which affects all states, and which, according to our Governors and water utilities, requires a dramatic increase in funding?

I do not intend to oppose the demonstration projects championed by Senator Clinton, and supported by my New York colleagues. Yet it is both disappointing and embarrassing that meaningful environmental legislation has been sidelined while one state's projects receive favored treatment, particularly when neither President Bush nor President Clinton requested funding for them. Perhaps H.R. 2771 is, sadly, the best so-called environmental achievement that the Republicans can muster on Earth Day.

Finally, we come to House Resolution 516, which recognizes National Manufacturing Week, as well as the value of manufacturing to the American economy and the serious challenges facing the sector. This is a fine resolution as far as it goes and I support it -- but it is hardly enough.

Michigan has lost over 128,000 manufacturing jobs since January of 2001, a significant amount even when compared to the 2.8 million that have been lost across the nation. Clearly this is a very serious matter that deserves much more than this resolution.

We need to tackle the problem of "outsourcing"; we need to expand programs in the Department of Commerce such as the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Advanced Technology Program; and we need to address the significant negative impact that increasing healthcare costs have on manufacturing. I hope the Committee will take an active interest in these matters. Otherwise, the words contained in this resolution would be a meaningless expression of support.