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Providing for Consideration of H.R. Pfas Action Act of 2019

Floor Speech

Date: Jan. 8, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health and Health Care Environment

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and the passage of the PFAS Action Act.

This bill will build on the progress we made in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2020 by setting restrictions on PFAS contamination moving forward and cleaning up existing contaminations.

PFAS chemicals are a class of chemicals that could be cancer-causing. They are called forever chemicals because they never leave your body. They can be found in Teflon, Scotchgard, firefighting foams, and food packaging. Increasingly, contamination from PFAS has been found in our food and our water supply, as well.

As many as 100 million Americans could be drinking tap water contaminated with PFAS, according to the Environmental Working Group. This is alarming because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said exposure to PFAS can lower pregnancy rates, interfere with human body hormones, increase cholesterol levels, affect immune systems, and increase risks of cancer, while also affecting the learning, growth, and behavior of children and infants. This is serious.

This fall, I held a briefing of the Congressional Food Safety Caucus, where leading experts presented the dangers of the use of PFAS in food packaging and how these chemical additives can contaminate our food. That is why I have called for a ban on PFAS in food packaging, and I am proud to have joined Congresswoman Chellie Pingree to ask the Government Accountability Office to review the actions that are being taken at the Federal level to evaluate the prevalence and the risk of chemical food contamination.

There is no time for delay. The PFAS Action Act of 2019 is a comprehensive approach to protecting our communities from PFAS contamination. I commend my Democratic colleagues, especially Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and Chairman Frank Pallone. This bill will help ensure we are protecting people from these potentially cancer-causing forever chemicals.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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