[Senate Prints 107-62]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress
2nd Session COMMITTEE PRINT S. Prt.
107-62
_______________________________________________________________________
CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: WHAT ROLE FOR THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT?
__________
PAPERS SUBMITTED AT A SEMINAR SPONSORED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH
SERVICE
TO REVIEW FEDERAL POLICIES WITH RESPECT TO THE RISKS OF ENVIRONMENTAL
HAZARDS ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH
__________
NOVEMBER 30, 2001
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
78-328 WASHINGTON : 2002
____________________________________________________________________________
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COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
one hundred seventh congress, second session
JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont, Chairman
MAX BAUCUS, Montana BOB SMITH, New Hampshire
HARRY REID, Nevada JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia
BOB GRAHAM, Florida JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming
BARBARA BOXER, California CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri
RON WYDEN, Oregon GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho
HILARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York LINCOLN CHAFEE, Rhode Island
JON S. CORZINE, New Jersey ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
Ken Connolly, Majority Staff Director
Dave Conover, Minority Staff Director
(ii)
FOREWORD
This publication is the culmination of proceedings and
papers delivered at a day-long seminar held by the
Congressional Research Service: ``Children's Environmental
Health: What Role for the Federal Government?'' Senators John
H. Chafee of Rhode Island and Max Baucus of Montana, then the
chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Environment and
Public Works, asked the Library of Congress to provide a
scientific forum on this issue.
The Committee on Environment and Public Works is the panel
of the Senate that oversees the environmental laws of the
United States, including the effects of environmental hazards
on human health. Federal rules regulating exposure levels to
ecological hazards have been developed in law and regulation
over the last 30 years by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Federal policy makers have relied on the a wide variety of
scientific evaluations of the risks posed by environmental
causes. Guidelines for setting protective levels against
hazardous exposure are designed for application to large
population groups.
Senator Chafee and Baucus asked the Congressional Research
Service to evaluate the impact of Federal regulation of
environmental hazards on children and youth. As more research
of impacts of environmental hazards on human populations was
published, evidence increasingly indicated that children
respond differently to environmental hazards than the general
population. The request to CRS to sponsor a gathering of
experts provided a starting place for review of this issue with
the purpose of learning whether refinements were needed in the
regulatory process.
Since 1996 Senator Boxer has sponsored bills to provide for
protection of children against environmental hazards. In the
107th Congress, she introduced S. 855, ``A bill to protect
children and other vulnerable subpopulations from exposure to
environmental pollutants, to protect children from exposure to
pesticides in schools, and to provide parents with information
concerning toxic chemicals that pose risks to children, and for
other purposes.''
The committee wishes to commend the staff of the
Congressional Research Service for their diligence in
fulfilling the task given to them by the committee. The
national debate on children's health issues has been advanced
by the scholarship and high quality of the debate among the
participants.
Remembering Senator John H. Chafee
On behalf of the committee members, I also would like to
take this opportunity to recognize the leadership and
achievements of Senator John H. Chafee as a vanguard in
protecting the nation's children. As a Senator, he was an early
advocate for children's rights and health safeguards. He was a
leader in the health care and Social Security Act debates of
the 1990's. He was one of the anchor members of the ``Centrist
Group'' of moderate Senators, of which I was a member. He was a
key reformer of the long process to overhaul the nation's
health care system. He was instrumental in pointing out the
impacts of environmental hazards, such as second-hand tobacco
smoke, on children and elderly populations.
John sponsored legislation to protect children in foster-
care housing, and to prevent the sale of tobacco to minors. He
supported the requirements to adjust air bags regulations in
automobiles to accommodate children's physical needs, and to
require safer safety practices for transporting children on the
nation's roads. Senator Baucus said of his work as a Senator
who fought for powerless people: ``John spoke for those people
in the shadows--the poor, the elderly, and children. Especially
children with special needs, whether it was Medicaid or welfare
reform, John was a very strong advocate. In fact, he was a
stronger advocate by far than most Members of the Senate.''
During the special order of the Senate held after his death
on October 24, 1999, at which all the Members of the Senate
offered their thoughts on his passing, the comments were
universal about John's style of leadership. Senator Bob Graham
said, ``John Chafee was a very humble, unassuming giant in the
Senate. He had a broad, inclusive vision. He was a principled
and thoughtful person. He was kind and generous. He asked and
gave the best of himself in everything he did. He never sought
recognition. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work.''
Senator Jim Inhofe remarked that in the years that he and
Senator Chafee had been members of the Republican Conference,
they sometimes disagreed on the issues. By experience, however,
Jim had come to appreciate the style of advocacy shown by his
friend, ``I would stop and think it over: This is John, so
maybe I need to be listening a little bit more. I think he had
a greater impact on people who disagreed with him than he did
on people who agreed with him.''
Senator Bob Smith, who assumed the chairmanship of the
committee for the remainder of the 106th Congress after Senator
Chafee's death, remembered Chairman Chafee as a peacemaker and
advocate for strongly held views. ``If there was anyone who
ever lived who perfected the art of disagreeing without being
disagreeable, it was John Chafee. Many times I marveled at his
ability to participate in a heated debate, in close quarters,
without losing his composure and his good humor.''
John Warner and John Chafee had worked side by side since
they were assigned to the Department of the Navy in the Nixon
Administration. Reflecting upon John's death, Senator Warner
said, ``We have to remember every day in this great institution
that, yes, we have our debates, we have our differences, but
the man or the woman to your left or right in this magnificent
institution could be gone the next day by the will of God. I
always think of that. We have to treasure and value every
moment we have with each other in this great institution
because it brings us together.''
Senator Harry Reid summarized the views of the committee
members and the Senate as a whole when he stated, ``Some of the
giants of the Senate in the 20th century are people who have
served as chairmen of the Environment and Public Works
Committee, men such as Robert Stafford of Vermont, Jennings
Randolph of West Virginia, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, of New
York. John Chafee clearly deserves to be mentioned in the same
breath as all of them. He truly was a great Senator. In fact,
it is fair to say when we list the great Senators of the 20th
century, it would not be complete without the name of John
Chafee.''
As a former member of the committee and now returning to it
as its chairman in the 107th Congress, I think back to the
example of leadership and open hand of friendship that John
showed me as a newly elected backbencher from Vermont. The
towering legacy left behind by my predecessor in the Senate,
Chairman Bob Stafford of Vermont, was a formidable challenge
when I first joined the committee. John Chafee was one of the
first Senators to seek me out as a friend and colleague. Over
the years, our friendship grew and we came to find ourselves
increasingly on the same side of issues facing our nation. I
always relied on his good judgment, good humor, and good sense.
It is with great appreciation that the members of the
Committee on Environment and Public Works remember the
leadership of Senator John H. Chafee, a patriot, Secretary of
the Navy, Governor, and Senator. He continues to inspire us who
follow him in this institution with his passion for public
service, his consummate skills as a legislator, and his
generosity of spirit.
JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont.
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