Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. DONNELLY. Madam President, as a parent, I know there is nothing more important than the health and safety of our children. It is the most basic desire of any mom or dad to watch their child grow up happy and healthy and to achieve his or her God-given potentials. Sadly, for too many children in this country, the chance at a healthy life and a bright future is stunted by external environmental factors beyond their control.

In some communities, in States like my home State of Indiana, with a long history of commercial and industrial manufacturing, the potential for exposure to hazardous contamination is a reality that must be constantly monitored and carefully managed. For that reason, I would like to talk about why our work on this appropriations bill that would fund agencies, including the Department of Labor, as well as Health and Human Services, is so important.

Last week, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, also known as ATSDR, held a community meeting in East Chicago, IN, to discuss the ongoing impacts of lead exposure in particular neighborhoods built over an old U.S. Steel lead smelter.

At the meeting, ATSDR released a report which indicated that in these neighborhoods 30 percent of children tested between 2005 and 2015 had blood lead levels above the CDC's reference level. That is 12 times higher than the national average of 2.5 percent.

The impacts of lead exposure are dangerous and irreversible. Even low levels of lead have been shown to affect a child's I.Q., the ability to pay attention, and academic achievement. Think about what that means for these children, for their families, for the community, and for our country.

In East Chicago, the fight to combat lead exposure is a team effort, and it also includes partners from the city, the State department of health, and IDEM, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services at the Federal level.

It is critical that our Federal partners continue to support these efforts by providing the best science, research, and resources to help identify and remediate contamination, as well as educate our impacted communities. That is why I am pleased that this appropriations bill more than doubles the current level of funding for CDC's efforts to reduce childhood lead poisoning. This funding is critical for lowering blood lead levels and preventing future harm. It also helps educate healthcare providers and the public about lead poisoning, monitor childhood blood lead levels, and provide funding to States for childhood lead-poisoning prevention.

Another important tool we have to protect the health and safety of our communities is Trevor's Law. Authored by my good friend Senator Mike Crapo and passed as part of the bipartisan Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act in 2016, Trevor's Law was designed to provide Federal agencies with the authority to help conduct investigations and to take the necessary actions to help address factors that may contribute to the creation of cancer clusters. Additionally, the law is intended to better enable Federal agencies to coordinate with State and local agencies and the public in investigating and addressing potential cancer clusters. It is the type of commonsense support and coordination Americans expect when they face the fear that something may be putting the health and the safety of their community and their beloved children at risk.

For the community of Franklin, IN, in Johnson County, Trevor's Law is the type of Federal support they need today as they work with the State to seek answers to reports that nearly 50 children have been diagnosed with various types of cancers in the last 8 years. Unfortunately for these families, many of whom I have had the privilege and opportunity to get to know, Trevor's Law has not yet been implemented. That is why I am offering a simple amendment. It provides $1 million to fund the implementation of Trevor's Law so we can leverage every bit of knowledge, research, expertise, and ingenuity to make sure our communities are safe places to raise our families.

We are blessed to live in a great country, founded on the idea that our children can grow up to be anything they dream of. Our job is to keep that promise for future generations and to give young people every chance there is to succeed. I urge my colleagues to join me and Senator Crapo in taking this important step to ensure that we employ the very best scientific research, knowledge, response, and coordination to ensure that our communities remain safe places to raise our children.

Madam President, I yield back.

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