Pelosi
Introduces Legislation to Strengthen Public Health System’s
Response to Environmental Pollutants
October 8, 2004
Washington,
D.C. -- House
Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi was joined today by Representatives Stephanie Tubbs
Jones and Louise Slaughter, and Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Harry Reid, and Lincoln Chafee, in introducing bipartisan
legislation to improve our public health system’s ability to
respond to environmental hazards. Leader Pelosi issued the
following statement on the introduction of the Coordinated
Environmental Health Network Act:
“Environmental contaminants have been linked to births defects,
developmental delays, and many chronic diseases including asthma,
various forms of cancer, and neurological disorders like
Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Multiple Sclerosis.
“Research shows that women and children are at especially high
risk for health problems related to environmental factors.
Each year, 4 percent of all births -- more than 150,000 babies --
are born with significant birth defects. The number of children with
asthma has doubled in the past 15 years to about 5 million. And more
than 8,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year.
“We do not
understand the long-term health effects of the vast majority of the
approximately 80,000 chemicals have been released into the
environment over the past 50 years and the more than 7 billion
pounds of chemicals that are released each year by industrial
facilities in the U.S. While many chemicals do not cause
damage, we need to know which ones do.
“In my hometown
of
San Francisco
, breast cancer rates are more than 12 percent higher than they were
15 years ago. These rates are significantly higher than the
rest of the nation, and public health officials are searching for
answers. We must understand what could be causing such a
dramatic rise, especially when three out of four women who are
diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of cancer or
other known risk factors. For these women, environmental factors may
be the link to their cancer.
“Improved
infrastructure that enables local, state and federal public health
agencies to monitor disease rates and environmental hazards is
needed. However, there is no system in place that explores the
relationship between diseases and potentially associated
environmental factors.
“Today, I am
joined by Representatives Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Louise
Slaughter, and Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Harry Reid, and
Lincoln Chafee, in introducing the Coordinated Environmental Health
Network Act to respond to this urgent need by creating the
infrastructure necessary to collect, analyze, and report data on the
rate of disease and the presence of relevant environmental factors
and exposures.
“The Network
would also coordinate national, state, and local efforts to bolster
our public health system’s capacity to investigate and respond
aggressively to environmental exposures that threaten health.
In addition, the Coordinated Environmental Health Network will alert
health officials when there is a sudden increase in any disease or
condition, including those associated with a biological or chemical
attack.
“Over the past three years, my colleagues and I have worked to
secure more than $73 million for pilot programs to begin developing
the capacity for a Coordinated Environmental Health Network, with an
additional $28 million pending in the Fiscal Year 2005 Labor-Health
and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill. These pilot
projects are giving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and the Environmental Protection Agency the information they need to
put in place a comprehensive, coordinated network.
“Once fully
operational, the network will coordinate national, state, and local
efforts to inform communities, public health officials, researchers,
and policymakers of potential environmental health risks, and to
integrate this information with other parts of the public health
system.
“This is really an issue of environmental justice. Minority
and low-income communities are particularly vulnerable to
environmental health hazards. The factories and dumping sites that
emit pollutants are often located near communities with little
political and economic power, and therefore less ability to protest.
The result is an elevated risk of exposure to harmful substances.
“Numerous public health and environmental organizations understand
the need for an improved response to these threats, and the
Coordinated Environmental Health Network Act is supported by the
Trust for America’s Health, American Public Health Association,
Citizens for a Cleaner Environment, March of Dimes, American Lung
Association, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, The Breast Cancer
Fund, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and many others.
“We must respond to these health threats in a comprehensive and
coordinated manner. To take action to prevent disease we must
understand its cause. I look forward to working with my
colleagues to enact this vital legislation.”
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