[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10691-S10692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MENENDEZ:
  S. 4009. A bill to restore, reaffirm, and reconcile legal rights and 
remedies under civil rights statutes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
designed to protect the most vulnerable members of our society, our 
children, from environmental pollution. We are well aware that children 
are especially susceptible to toxins in the environment--they spend a 
good deal of time playing outside, and frequently put foreign objects 
into their mouths. In proportion to their body weight, they eat, drink, 
and breathe more than adults, meaning concentrations of pollutants that 
might not affect adults could have serious consequences for children. 
Furthermore, many of their physiological

[[Page S10692]]

systems are still developing, making them particularly sensitive to 
pollutants.
  I believe that our environmental laws need to first and foremost 
protect the most vulnerable members of our society. Unfortunately, many 
of our statutes are designed with adults in mind, and may not 
adequately protect children. In addition, there have been a number of 
recent reports in New Jersey about schools and day care centers being 
built on contaminated sites. One site in particular, the Kiddie Kollege 
day care center in Franklin Township, NJ, was operating at the site of 
a former thermometer factory, exposing the children and employees to 
dangerous levels of mercury. Sadly, there was no requirement for the 
property to be tested for environmental contamination prior to opening 
as a day care center. Subsequently, we have learned about a number of 
day care centers either built on or adjacent to sites contaminated with 
volatile organic chemicals and other toxins.
  That is why I am introducing this legislation today. The 
Environmental Protection for Children Act would create a grant program 
that encourages States to enact laws ensuring that properties are 
tested for pollution before a new day care center or school is allowed 
to open. The grants could be used for the testing and cleanup of 
existing schools and day care centers as well. Furthermore, this bill 
tightens the Federal programs that regulate hazardous chemicals and 
environmental pollutants--the Toxic Substances Control Act, Superfund 
law, Toxic Release Inventory, and Federal Hazardous Substances Act--so 
that the vulnerability of children to toxins and pollutants is taken 
into account when public health standards are being developed. It also 
provides for more research into the specific vulnerabilities of 
children to environmental pollutants, since in many cases we don't know 
how much additional risk children are under.
  We as a Nation have assiduously acted to protect our children from 
many of the dangers that they face every day, but we have dropped the 
ball when it comes to making sure that the places where they spend 
their days are free from contamination. The Environmental Protection 
for Children Act will help fix that, and I urge my colleagues to join 
me in support of this important piece of legislation.
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