Providing for Consideration of H.R. Pfas Action Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Consumer Protection and Recovery Act; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Averting Loss of Life and Injury By Expediting Sivs Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Ms. DEAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule. PFAS water contamination is personal for all of us. Nearly all of us have been contaminated without our consent, without our knowledge. We all have PFAS in our blood, the forever chemical. High levels of this toxin have dangerous and damaging health effects. The EPA's website describes the effects: ``low infant birth weights, effects on the immune system, cancer . . . and thyroid hormone disruption.''
And manufacturers knew. They knew the dangers of PFAS my entire life. It wasn't until the turn of this century and the heroic work of Attorney Rob Bilott that they were forced to admit what they knew. They knew that PFAS was toxic in the 1960s. They knew it was building up in our bodies, in our blood, by the 1970s. They knew it was contaminating our water by the 1980s. They knew that it was poisoning our own workers by the 1990s. But they hid the truth from their own workers, from their neighbors, from you and me.
We have a responsibility to protect everyone from PFAS contamination and the PFAS Action Act is a step in the right direction in ensuring everyone has clean water. The PFAS Action Act would: require the EPA to establish a national drinking water standard; designate PFOA and PFOS chemicals as hazardous substances; require EPA to regulate PFAS discharge; and provide $200 million annually for wastewater treatment; place a moratorium on the introduction of new PFAS; and require comprehensive PFAS health testing.
All of this would set a standard and provide protections. I am grateful to see a requirement for EPA to develop necessary rules for safe disposal of PFAS. That is included in this legislation.
We cannot continue to allow manufacturers to recklessly poison our communities. As we move forward, remember, it is our responsibility as legislators to educate, litigate, legislate, and finally hold polluters accountable.
I thank Representative Dingell for her tenacity in drafting and passing this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill as well as the other two bills in the rule.
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