| 00:00:00 | A STAPLE IN THE AMERICAN DIET AND EVEN FOR CHILDREN. |
| 00:00:05 | BECAUSE OF THIS OPPOSITION, IT APPEARS THAT I HAVE NO OPTION TO MOVE THIS AMENDMENT FORWARD. |
| 00:00:13 | AGAIN, I'VE TRIED FOR A YEAR AND A HALF. |
| 00:00:15 | SIX MONTHS OF NEGOTIATION. |
| 00:00:17 | I CAN PUT A HOLD ON THE BILL, STOP IT, AND MAKE A FUSS, AS SOME OTHERS HAVE DONE OVER OTHER ISSUES. |
| 00:00:25 | OR I CAN WAIT TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY BY ALLOWING THIS FOOD SAFETY BILL TO GO FORWARD WHILE CONTINUING TO BUILD THE CASE AGAINST B. |
| 00:00:35 | P.A. AND THAT LATTER IS WHAT I INTEND TO DO, BEGINNING NOW. |
| 00:00:39 | SO THIS BATTLE MAY BE LOST, BUT REST ASSURED, I DON'T INTEND TO QUIT. |
| 00:00:47 | I HAVE A DEEP ABIDING EXERN REGARDING THE -- CONCERN REGARDING THE PRESENCE OF TOXINS AND CHEMICALS WITH NO TESTING IN ALL KINDS OF PRODUCTS AND ALL KINDS OF SOLUTIONS THAT LEACH INTO PEOPLE WITH NO TESTING. |
| 00:01:04 | THERE IS NO PRECAUTIONARY STANDARD IN THIS COUNTRY WHEN IT COMES TO CHEMICALS. |
| 00:01:09 | YOU HAVE TO PROVE THAT A CHEMICAL IS HARMFUL BEFORE THAT CHEMICAL CAN BE BANNED. |
| 00:01:18 | THE EVIDENCE AGAINST B. |
| 00:01:19 | P.A. IS MOUNTING AND ESPECIALLY ITS HARMFUL EFFECTS ON BABIES AND CHILDREN WHO ARE STILL DEVELOPING. |
| 00:01:30 | B.P.A. -- HERE'S -- NOW HERE'S THE ARGUMENT. |
| 00:01:32 | HERE'S WHAT B. |
| 00:01:33 | P.A. IS. |
| 00:01:34 | IT'S A SYNTHETIC ESTROGEN. |
| 00:01:36 | IT IS A HORMONE DISRUPTER. |
| 00:01:39 | IT INTERFERES WITH HOW THE HORMONES WORK IN THE BODY. |
| 00:01:44 | AND THIS CHEMICAL IS USED IN THOUSANDS OF CONSUMER PRODUCTS. |
| 00:01:48 | IT'S USED TO HARDEN PLASTICS, LINE TIN CANS, AND EVEN MAKE C. |
| 00:01:54 | D.'S. IT'S EVEN USED TO COAT AIRLINE TICKETS AND GROCERY STORE RECEIPTS. |
| 00:02:00 | IT IS ONE OF THE MOST PER ADVICIVE CHEMICALS IN -- PERVASIVE CHEMICALS IN MODERN LIFE. |
| 00:02:05 | AS WITH SO MANY OTHER CHEMICALS IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS, B. |
| 00:02:09 | P.A. HAS BEEN ADDED TO OUR PRODUCTS WITHOUT KNOWING WHETHER IT IS SAFE OR NOT. |
| 00:02:17 | ALTERNATIVES EXIST BECAUSE CONCERN HAS BEEN GROWING ABOUT THE HARMFUL IMPACT. |
| 00:02:23 | THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY HAS TRIED TO QUIET CRITICISM BY REASSURING CONSUMERS THAT B. |
| 00:02:30 | P.A. IS SAFE AND THAT MORE RESEARCH STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE. |
| 00:02:36 | WELL, MR. |
| 00:02:37 | PRESIDENT, THAT ARGUMENT SIMPLY DOESN'T HOLD WATER. |
| 00:02:43 | OVER 200 SCIENTIFIC STUDIES SHOW THAT EXPOSURE TO B. |
| 00:02:50 | P.A., PARTICULARLY DURING PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND EARLY UN EARLLY INFANCY, ARE LINKED TO A WIDE RANGE OF HEALTH EFFECTS LATER IN LIFE. |
| 00:03:01 | AND BECAUSE OF THEIR SMALLER SIZE AND STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT, BABIES AND CHILDREN ARE PARTICULARLY AT RISK FROM THESE HARMFUL IMPACTS. |
| 00:03:09 | NOW WHAT DO THESE INCLUDE? |
| 00:03:12 | INCREASED RISK OF BREAST AND PROSTATE CANCER, GENITAL ABNORMALITIES IN MALES, INFERTILITY IN MEN, SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION, EARLY PUBERTY IN GIRLS, METABOLIC DISORDERS SUCH AS INSULIN-RESISTANT TYPE-2 DIABETES AND OBESITY, AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER, ADHD. |
| 00:03:44 | INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO INSIST THAT B. |
| 00:03:46 | P.A. IS NOT HARMFUL, BUT ONE STUDY SHOWS US WHY WE SHOULD BE SKEPTICAL ABOUT RESEARCH COMING FROM CHEMICAL COMPANIES. |
| 00:03:55 | IN 2006, THE JOURNAL "ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH" PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE COMPARING THE RESULTS OF GOVERNMENT-FUNDED STUDIES ON B. |
| 00:04:06 | P.A. TO B. |
| 00:04:07 | P.A. STUDIES FUNDED BY INDUSTRY. |
| 00:04:10 | THE DIFFERENCE IS STARK. |
| 00:04:14 | 92% OF THE GOVERNMENT-FUNDED STUDIES FOUND THAT EXPOSURE TO B. |
| 00:04:19 | P.A. CAUSED HEALTH PROBLEMS. |
| 00:04:23 | OVERWHELMINGLY, GOVERNMENT STUDIES FOUND HARM. |
| 00:04:26 | NONE OF THE INDUSTRY STUDIES IDENTIFIED HEALTH PROBLEMS AS A RESULT OF B. |
| 00:04:33 | P.A. EXPOSURE. |
| 00:04:35 | NOT ONE. |
| 00:04:36 | THAT'S 92% OF THE GOVERNMENT STUDIES AND NOT ONE OF THE INDUSTRY STUDIES. |
| 00:04:42 | SO I ASK, HOW CAN THIS BE? |
| 00:04:47 | CLEARLY, SERIOUS QUESTIONS ARE RAISED ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY'S STUDIES. |
| 00:04:54 | THE RESULTS ALSO ILLUSTRATE WHY OUR NATION'S REGULATORY AGENCIES SHOULD NOT AND CANNOT SOLELY -- OR RELY SOLE SOLELY ON CHEMICAL COMPANIES TO CONDUCT RESEARCH INTO THEIR OWN PRODUCTS. |
| 00:05:12 | AND CONSUMERS ARE WORRIED ABOUT B. |
| 00:05:13 | P.A. THEY ARE PUSHING IN STATES FOR RESTRICTIONS AND BANS. |
| 00:05:18 | OVER 72 ORGANIZATIONS -- OVER 75 ORGANIZATIONS, AS I'VE SAID, THAT REPRESENT 40 MILLION AMERICANS, SUPPORT GETTING B. |
| 00:05:26 | P.A. OUT OF FOOD PASSAGING FOR CHILDREN -- PACKAGING FOR CHILDREN. |
| 00:05:30 | SUPPORT COMES FROM NATIONAL GROUPS SUCH AS THE BLUE-GREEN ALLIANCE, CONSUMER'S UNION, BREAST CANCER FUND, NATIONAL W. |
| 00:05:40 | I.C., AND UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA. |
| 00:05:42 | STATE GROUPS SUCH AS ALASKA COMMUNITY ACTION ON TOXICS, CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ALLIANCE, ENVIRONMENT ILLINOIS, THE TENNESSEE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL, AND THE MASSACHUSETTS BREAST CANCER COALITION BACK THIS AMENDMENT. |
| 00:05:59 | THE BROAD COALITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSUMER ADVOCATES KNOW B. |
| 00:06:05 | P.A. IS NOT GOOD FOR OUR BABIES. |
| 00:06:09 | I WANT TO UNDERSCORE THE IMPORTANCE AND THE URGENCY OF WITHDRAWING B. |
| 00:06:15 | P.A. FROM BABY PRODUCTS. |
| 00:06:18 | WELL WHO HAVE KNOWN AND RESPECTED ORGANIZATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES HAVE EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT B. |
| 00:06:27 | P.A. THE PRESIDENT'S CANCER ANNUAL REPORT -- EXCUSE ME, THE PRESIDENT'S CANCER PANEL ANNUAL REPORT RELEASED IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR CONCLUDED THAT THERE IS A GROWING -- THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE OF A LINK BETWEEN B. |
| 00:06:43 | P.A. AND SEVERAL DISEASES, SUCH AS CANCER. |
| 00:06:46 | THE PANEL RECOMMENDED USING B. |
| 00:06:50 | P.A.-FREE CONTAINERS TO LIMIT CHEMICAL EXPOSURE. |
| 00:06:54 | A 2008 STUDY BY THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SUGGESTED LINKS BETWEEN EXPOSURE TO B. |
| 00:07:03 | P.A. AND DIABETES, HEART DISEASE, AND LIVER PROBLEMS IN HUMANS. |
| 00:07:08 | THE NATIONAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION EXAMINATION SURVEY LINKED B. |
| 00:07:14 | P.A. IN HIGH CONCENTRATIONS TO CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AND TYPE-2 DIABETES. |
| 00:07:20 | IN ADDITION TO THE OVER 200 SCIENTIFIC STUDIES SHOWING LOW-DOSE EXPOSURE TO B. |
| 00:07:27 | P.A. IS LINKED TO ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF STUDIES THAT LINK B. |
| 00:07:33 | P.A. AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS TO EARLY-ON SET PUBERTY AND OTHER HORMONAL CHANGE. |
| 00:07:41 | THIS IS SERIOUS. |
| 00:07:42 | THIS EMPHASIZES HOW DETRIMENTAL THIS CHEMICAL CAN BE DURING DEVELOPMENT. |
| 00:07:47 | AND I'D LIKE TO DISCUSS THREE OF THESE STUDIES. |
| 00:07:53 | THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY COMPRISED OF OVER 14,000 MEMBERS FROM MORE THAN 100 COUNTRIES PUBLISHED A SCIENTIFIC STATEMENT IN 2009 EXPRESSING CONCERN FOR THE ADVERSE HEALTH IMPACTS OF ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS LIKE B. |
| 00:08:13 | P.A. AND THEY LISTED ADVERSE HEALTH IMPACTS, INFERTILITY, HIGH ROID PROBLEMS, OBESITY, AND CANCER. |
| 00:08:21 | A STUDY PUBLISHED IN "ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES," STUDIED 715 MEN AGES 20 TO 74 YEARS OLD AND FOUND THAT MEN WHO HAD HIGH LEVELS OF B. |
| 00:08:34 | P.A. IN THEIR BODIES ALSO HAD HIGHER LEVELS OF TESS TESTOSTERONE. |
| 00:08:41 | THIS STUDY DEMONSTRATES THAT HIGHER B. |
| 00:08:45 | P.A. LEVELS IN THE BODY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ALTERED HORMONE LEVELS. |
| 00:08:54 | A STUDY IN THE JOURNAL OF "PEDIATRICS" IN SEPTEMBER 2010 DEMONSTRATED THAT PUBERTY IN GIRLS IS OCCURRING EVEN EARLIER BY AGES 7 AND 8. |
| 00:09:09 | THE RESEARCHERS STUDIED 1,239 GIRLS IN 2004 AND 2008. |
| 00:09:19 | SO THERE WAS FOLLOW-UP. |
| 00:09:20 | IN CINCINNATI, EAST HARLEM, AND SAN FRANCISCO. |
| 00:09:24 | THEY FOUND THAT AT AGE 8, 18% OF KAW KAY SHAN GIRLS, 43% OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN GIRLS, AND 31% OF HISPANIC GIRLS HAD SIGNS OF PUBERTY. |
| 00:09:40 | THAT'S AT 8 YEARS OLD. |
| 00:09:42 | THE RESEARCHERS SUSPECTED THAT ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS LIKE B. |
| 00:09:48 | P.A. COULD INFLUENCE THE ONSET OF PUBERTY. |
| 00:09:52 | NOW, EARLY PUBERTY CAN CAUSE A HOST OF PROBLEMS LATER ON IN LIFE. |
| 00:09:56 | SUCH AS INCREASED RAILTS RATES OF BREAST CANCER, LOWER SELF-ESTEEM, EATING DISORDERS AND CERTAINLY DEPRESSION. |
| 00:10:06 | GIVEN THESE CONCLUSIONS, IT IS REALLY CRITICAL THAT WE ACT AND PROTECT JUST THE MOST VULNERABLE: OUR INFANTS AND TODDLERS, FROM THIS CHEMICAL. |
| 00:10:19 | HOW ARE THEY BENEFITTING BY HAVING A BABY BOTTLE OR A CUP THAT THEY SIP FROM THAT IS COATED WITH B. |
| 00:10:29 | P.A.? HOW IS THAT BOTTLE ANY BETTER? |
| 00:10:32 | HOW IS THAT CUP ANY BETTER? |
| 00:10:36 | IN FACT, IT ISN'T. |
| 00:10:39 | AND YET, THE CHEMICAL COUNCIL PUTS THEIR NEEDS TO SELL THESE CHEMICALS ABOVE ALL THESE 200 STUDIES, ALL OF THE SCIENCE THAT'S EMERGING AND WON'T EVEN SAY JUST IN CASE THIS IS TRUE, YES, I AGREE WITH YOU, WE SHOULD PROTECT OUR YOUNG AND OUR YOUNGEST. |
| 00:11:04 | AND THEY WON'T DO EVEN THAT. |
| 00:11:07 | THERE WERE OTHER PARTS OF OUR BILL, IT'S THE STUFF COATS TIN CANS. |
| 00:11:13 | I NO LONGER BUY TIN CANS BECAUSE OF IT. |
| 00:11:17 | MY FAMILY, I'VE ASKED THEM NOT TO BUY THINGS IN TIN CANS. |
| 00:11:21 | BUY THEM IN GLASS. |
| 00:11:23 | YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT B. |
| 00:11:27 | P.A. THAT LINES THE CANS BECAUSE IS ALSO A SHELF EXTENDER, THE LIFE OF THE COMMODITY INSIDE THE CAN IS EXTENDED BECAUSE THE CAN ITSELF IS COATED IN B. |
| 00:11:41 | P.A. SO THIS AMENDMENT DOESN'T DO CANS, IT DOESN'T DO CONTAINERS. |
| 00:11:46 | IT JUST DOES BABY BOTTLES AND SIPPY CUPS JUST FOR INFANTS, JUST FOR TODDLERS. |
| 00:11:55 | AND THE CHEMICAL COUNCIL SAYS NO. |
| 00:11:58 | AND I GUESS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AISLE BOWS. |
| 00:12:07 | SO I'M AMAZED. |
| 00:12:08 | B. |
| 00:12:09 | P.A. HAS BEEN LINKED TO DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS, CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS AND DIABETES BY CREDIBLE SCIENTIFIC BODIES. |
| 00:12:20 | THE EVIDENCE THAT B. |
| 00:12:23 | P.A. IS UNACCEPTABLY DANGEROUS IS MOUNTING, YET IT REMAINS IN THOUSANDS OF HOUSEHOLD AND FOOD PRODUCTS. |
| 00:12:29 | SO IN AN EFFORT TO REACH A BIPARTISAN COMPROMISE -- WHICH WE DID DO LAST NIGHT -- THE AMENDMENT WOL ONLY -- THAT I WANTED, WOULD ONLY RESTRICT THE USE OF B. |
| 00:12:40 | P.A. IN BABY BOTTLES AND SIPPY CUPS BECAUSE AS THE SCIENCE SHOWS, BABIES AND YOUNG CHILDREN ARE THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF THIS TOXIC CHEMICAL. |
| 00:12:54 | AND THIS AMENDMENT WOULD HAVE ENSURED THAT ALL BABIES, IN WHATEVER STATE THEY HAPPEN TO BE OR WHEREVER THEY BUY THEIR BABY BOTTLES, ARE SAFE. |
| 00:13:04 | AND WE CAN'T EVEN DO THIS IN A FOOD SAFETY BILL. |
| 00:13:09 | IT WOULD HAVE ENSURED THAT PARENTS NO LONGER HAVE TO WONDER WHETHER OR NOT THE PRODUCTS THEY BUY FOR THEIR BABIES WILL HARM THEM NOW OR LATER IN LIFE. |
| 00:13:19 | AND I HAVE ON MY BLACKBERRY A PICTURE OF A NEW GRANDCHILD BORN EARLIER TODAY, A LITTLE BOY BY THE NAME OF BENJAMIN. |
| 00:13:29 | SO EVEN IF YOU'RE A GRANDPARENT LIKE ME, THIS IS SO RELEVANT. |
| 00:13:35 | I MEAN, IF WE CAN'T TAKE CARE OF OUR BABIES, WHAT CAN WE TAKE CARE OF IN THIS COUNTRY? |
| 00:13:44 | SO, DESPITE THE LOSS OF THIS AMENDMENT, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CAN STILL VOTE WITH THEIR POCKETBOOKS BY REFUSING TO BUY PRODUCTS TAINTED WITH B. |
| 00:13:56 | P.A. ASK THE QUESTION IN YOUR GROCERY STORE. |
| 00:14:00 | GO WHERE THEY ARE NOT SOLD. |
| 00:14:02 | BUY THE PRODUCTS THAT DO NOT USE B. |
| 00:14:06 | P.A. SO PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS IS IMPORTANT. |
| 00:14:10 | IN 2008, AS PART OF THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT, CONGRESS ACCEPTED MY PROPOSAL TO BAN PHALYNX AND PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNED IT. |
| 00:14:27 | IT IS A PLASTICIZING CHEMICAL AND USED IN CHILDREN'S TOYS. |
| 00:14:33 | IT HAD BEEN SHOWN THAT PHALYNX LIKE B. |
| 00:14:38 | P.A. ARE LINKED TO A VARIETY OF HEALTH PROBLEMS IN YOUNG CHILDREN. |
| 00:14:42 | I WAS PROUD TO LEAD THAT FIGHT AND PROTECT CHILDREN FROM THESE CHEMICALS. |
| 00:14:49 | AND, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND MEMBERS, I TRULY BELIEVE THAT THE UNRESTRICTED USE OF CHEMICALS IN PRODUCTS, WHETHER THEY BE MAKEUP FOR WOMEN, LOTIONS THAT GO ON BODIES COATINGS IN CANS, COVERINGS OF PLASTIC, SOFT TPHERS AND HARDENERS OF CHEMICALS THAT LEAK INTO FOOD ARE A PROBLEM. |
| 00:15:15 | AND THAT WHEN YOU DO A FOOD SAFETY BILL, YOU OUGHT TO CONSIDER SOME OF THIS. |
| 00:15:19 | NOT EVEN THIS BABY STEP TO PROTECT BABIES IS GOING TO BE TAKEN. |
| 00:15:26 | SO, I VERY MUCH REGRET IT, BUT THE BATTLE IS JOINED. |
| 00:15:32 | AND ONCE I START, I DO NOT STOP. |
| 00:15:35 | SO I THANK THE FLOOR. |
| 00:15:37 | WE WILL FIGHT ANOTHER DAY. |
| 00:15:39 | THANK YOU, MR. |
| 00:15:50 | PRESIDENT. |
| 00:15:51 | MR. PRESIDENT, I NOTE THE ABSENCE OF A QUORUM. |
| 00:15:54 | THE PRESIDING OFFICER: THE CLERK WILL CALL THE ROLL. |
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