Justice for Jana Elementary Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, in October of this past year, the parents and students of Jana Elementary School in Florissant, MO--that is in the greater St. Louis area--woke to find news of an independent study that had found nuclear radioactive contamination inside the school building at Jana Elementary. Now, sadly, this probably didn't come as a total shock to those residents who have lived in Florissant and in the surrounding area because for years now--for years--this community has had to deal with the fallout of the Federal Government's own nuclear program and the waste left over from it dating back to the 1940s, which was then effectively dumped in St. Louis, made its way into the water, into the soil, and now into a stream that runs right by this elementary school.

So the school board wisely said: We should do a study. Let's find out if it is in the school.

Independent results came back and said it was in the dust, on the windowsills of the school--radioactive material. The school board met. They shut down the school. Parents had kids at home for months.

Then comes the first of this year. The school board said: We can't in good conscience reopen it.

Now what is happening? The school is closed. The kids are having to be bused to other locations, driven to schools outside of their neighborhood.

This a working-class community. These are hard-working folks. They don't have the resources lying around to send their kids to other schools or to pay to move. If they did, they would. They don't. They are just trying to live their lives, work a job, get their kids a decent education. And, instead, they have had to deal with this.

The worst part about it is the Federal Government refused to clean it up. When this news broke, the Army Corps of Engineers said: Oh, there is nothing wrong with the school. We have tested it a million times. It is fine.

In fact, they held a press conference today in which they said the same thing: Trust us. It is fine. It is fine.

I don't think any of them are sending their kids there. But trust us, they say; it is fine.

When I and the school board and the parents said to the Army Corps of Engineers: You need to retest; you need to test the entire school district--then they pointed fingers and said: Oh, no, it is the Department of Energy; it is their problem.

So then, when we went to the Department of Energy, they said: Oh, no, we can't do anything. It is the Army Corps' problem.

The Biden administration has spent the last 8 months now pointing fingers at each other, saying why they can't do this; they can't do that. The kids are just out of luck.

I just notice this. When that bank in California full of billionaires--who are also, not incidentally, major political contributors--had a problem, boy, this government moved lickety-split to bail them out. How many billions did this government spend to bail out the SVB shareholders and stakeholders and depositors? They got their bailout in no time flat.

These kids? Nothing. Can't even get a response. Do you know the Biden administration won't even respond to me? So fine. We will do it ourselves.

I have introduced legislation that will order testing in the entire school district, that will mandate a cleanup of the school, and, if necessary, build these kids a new school.

The Federal Government caused this problem. The Federal Government should fix this problem. And just because these kids aren't billionaires or big-time political contributors or connected politically doesn't mean that they can be ignored. It doesn't mean that their lives don't matter.

I would just note this. Last week, the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, when I talked to her about this bill in a public forum--I asked her in the hearing--she said that she would support the legislation.

And who couldn't, Mr. President? Who couldn't support having the Federal Government clean up its own mess and getting some justice for these kids at Jana Elementary?

And I will just say this. This community in St. Louis has been asked to live with the fallout of the Federal Government's actions for decades--this is just the latest instance--for decades. The cancer rates, the rates of disease, autoimmune disorders, they are off the charts in this community, and for years these folks have been told: Just shut up, and it will be fine.

Well, it is not fine, and today we are going to get some justice for these kids. Today we are going to start the cleanup process that should have happened decades ago.

418 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
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Mr. HAWLEY. I know of no further debate on the bill.

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