[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 31 (Friday, March 18, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         INTRODUCTION OF THE PESTICIDE FOOD SAFETY ACT OF 1994

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                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 18, 1994

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Pesticide Food 
Safety Act of 1994. This legislation will comprehensively reform this 
Nation's outmoded pesticide law. Within 5 years, it will phase out any 
pesticide that is highly hazardous to human health.
  The simple fact is that our Federal pesticide program doesn't give 
American consumers the assurances that they deserve that our food 
supply is safe.
  More than 20 years ago, Congress directed the Environmental 
Protection Agency to evaluate the safety of the 300 pesticides used in 
foods. Today EPA has completed its evaluation for less than 10 percent 
of those pesticides, and very few of this 10 percent are pesticides of 
toxicological significance. Further, under current law, after EPA 
reaches a decision about the safety of a pesticide, it is required to 
weigh the economic benefits of the pesticide to farmers against the 
risk to the public before deciding whether to take the pesticide off 
the market.
  The undeniable fact is that an outmoded statute and arcane regulatory 
procedures have frozen the Agency and denied the public the protection 
that it deserves. The Pesticide Food Safety Act of 1994 will force EPA 
to make decisions about the safety of pesticides. Under this new law, 
benefits will have no place in the decision as to whether a pesticide 
is safe. The new law will give the public assurances that it deserves 
with respect to the safety of the food supply.
  Specifically, this legislation will protect children against harmful 
pesticides, by protecting women against estrogen-imitating pesticides, 
and generally by protecting all consumers from pesticides that may 
cause cancer.
  With regard to protection of children, just last year the National 
Academy of Sciences issued its long awaited study on childhood exposure 
to pesticides in foods. The bottom line is that the NAS found that our 
children are at unnecessary risk from exposure to pesticides. It found 
that in many cases we just don't have the information that we need to 
determine the exposure of children to pesticides and the risk that 
pesticides cause to their health. Since there are sound reasons for 
believing that children are especially susceptible to pesticides, it is 
essential that our pesticide laws protect the health of children.
  While we know a little about the effects of pesticides on children, 
we know virtually nothing about the effects of estrogenic pesticides on 
women. However, there is increasing evidence about estrogen-imitating 
compounds, including pesticides, that have been linked to very serious 
health and environmental impacts. New pesticide legislation must insure 
that we identify estrogen-imitating pesticides and ban them from the 
food supply.
  We also know that there are approximately 70 pesticides used in food 
that EPA has identified as carcinogens. The agency has classified more 
than 15 of these as probable human carcinogens. Yet EPA has never 
decided whether these pesticides are safe and therefore they remain in 
the food supply in the absence of any action.
  The Pesticide Food Safety Act of 1994 will finally put in place a 
program that insures the safety of pesticides in the food supply. 
First, the bill will get EPA the data that it needs to evaluate the 
safety of pesticides, including data on special risks to children and 
women. Second, the bill will force EPA to make decisions. Under the 
mandatory timetable that the bill imposes, any pesticide classified as 
a high human health hazard or a probable human carcinogen will be 
banned within 5 years. All pesticides will be reviewed and removed from 
the market unless they are shown to be safe within 7 years. Third, EPA 
will be prohibited from approving the pesticide unless it finds that it 
is safe for human health. In contrast to current law, benefits to 
farmers will not be relevant to determining whether use of the 
pesticide is safe.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that Mr. Synar and Mr. Torres have joined 
me in cosponsoring this important legislation. This bill is intended to 
protect the American consumer, and particularly children who often eat 
disproportionately large amounts of certain pesticides because they 
consume relatively few foods and because they consume large quantities 
of pesticides relative to their body weight. But I believe that it will 
ultimately benefit the agriculture and the food processing industry 
because everyone will benefit if we can truthfully say that we have 
eliminated dangerous pesticides from the food supply.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by emphasizing that I look forward 
to working with the administration, the environmental community, the 
food processors, and the agricultural community on this important 
legislation. I am convinced that we can enact legislation that will 
better protect the public health without disadvantaging agriculture or 
the other businesses that supply our food.

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