[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 71 (Friday, June 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TRADE, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

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                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 2000

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation 
requiring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study the issue of 
alleged potential health risks associated with wireless phones. This 
legislation builds upon a provision that I offered to legislation then-
pending in the House Commerce Committee during the previous Congress. 
That underlying legislation ultimately was not enacted in the previous 
Congress and today I offer the wireless health study amendment as a 
standalone piece of legislation, entitled the ``Wireless Phone Health 
Risk Assessment Act of 2000.''
  Mr. Speaker, when I first raised the issue of cellular phone safety 
at a House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee briefing I 
chaired in 1993, there were roughly 15 million people using such 
phones--today there are over 70 million users of wireless phones. In 
addition, the FDA, which coordinates Federal oversight of the wireless 
phone health issue, has previously indicated that a significant 
research effort over a sustained period of time is needed to provide 
the greater body of scientific information that scientists and 
regulators will need to more adequately assess any potential health 
risks.
  It is my belief that because wireless phone companies receive their 
licenses to operate from the Federal Government, that the government 
has a responsibility to step up its efforts to address this issue. 
Indeed, having helped create the wireless revolution over the years by 
freeing up federally administered airwaves for these new services, I 
have simultaneously advocated that the government must also have a 
serious commitment to additional research in order to reassure 
consumers that any lingering concerns about whether these wireless 
devices pose a health risk are addressed.
  This legislation authorizes $25 million over a 5-year period for the 
FDA to analyze health risks associated from radiofrequency emissions 
from wireless phones. I believe it is a modest but important allocation 
of a portion of total Federal research funds, an authorization that is 
specifically dedicated to scientifically assess wireless phone health 
risks.

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