[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 163 (Thursday, October 25, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13456-S13457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID (for Mrs. Clinton):
  S. 2244. A bill to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to carry out demonstration projects and outreach programs for the 
identification and abatement of lead hazards, to establish the Joint 
Task Force on Lead-Based Hazards and the Task Force on Children's 
Environmental Health and Safety, to strengthen the authority of the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Lead 
Elimination, Abatement and Poisoning Prevention Act of 2007, 
legislation that would help us address the threat of lead poisoning 
among children.
  We have made enormous strides in reducing exposure to lead since its 
use was phased out in gasoline and residential paint more than twenty 
years ago. From 1976 to 1994, we reduced the number of children from 
age 1 to 5 with elevated blood lead levels from more than 75 percent of 
the population to slightly over 4 percent of the population, according 
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC. And many local 
governments have responded to existing lead hazards through intensive 
interventions.
  In my state, for example, Rochester is just one of the cities that 
have increased their efforts to address elevated blood lead levels 
among their residents. In 2002, Rochester estimated that nearly 25 
percent of its children had blood lead levels that exceeded the CDC's 
standard of 10 micrograms per deciliter. Rochester embarked on efforts 
to engage in residential lead remediation and abatement, particularly 
among the 80 percent of its housing stock identified as having lead-
based paint. By 2005, according to the Monroe County Department of 
Health, out of more than 13,000 children screened, the number with 
elevated blood lead levels had dropped to less than 5 percent--a marked 
reduction from only three years before. Yet these levels are still 
high, and Rochester continues to work to reduce that level even 
further, continuing efforts to identify and address the sources of lead 
poisoning with a coalition of stakeholders.
  These are the types of interventions we should be supporting, because 
there are still far too many children in Rochester and other places 
around our country who are at risk for lead poisoning. The CDC 
estimates that more than 300,000 children have elevated blood lead 
levels. Many of these children are at risk due to existing lead-based 
paint in their homes. To address this concern, I have introduced 
legislation--the Home-Based Lead Safety Tax Credit Act--which will help 
families and landlords remediate and abate lead-based hazards in 
residences.
  But as recent events have shown us, residential lead paint is not the 
only source of exposure to lead hazards. This past summer, families 
experienced wave after wave of recalls for products containing lead 
hazards--products that were all targeted for use by children, including 
toys, bibs, and notebooks. Hundreds of thousands of children have been 
needlessly exposed to lead-contaminated products, and I have written to 
both President Bush and the Acting Commissioner of the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission to urge them to undertake the reforms necessary to 
strengthen this agency.
  Our Government's Healthy People 2010 Objectives includes the goal of 
eliminating elevated blood lead levels in children. The Environmental 
Protection Agency's Strategic Plan for 2006-2011 also sets the goal of 
eliminating elevated blood lead levels in American children by 2010. 
But if we keep along our current path, we will not attain those goals. 
We must increase our commitment at our federal agencies to address this 
issue, provide our state and local governments with the tools to 
mobilize the multiple stakeholders involved in lead abatement and 
poisoning prevention, and increase our efforts to educate families 
about ways to protect their children from lead exposure.

  We need to take a comprehensive approach to lead poisoning 
prevention, which is why I am introducing the LEAPP Act today. This 
legislation will do the following:
  In far too many cases, a single dwelling accounts for multiple 
childhood lead poisonings. This bill would establish a pilot project to 
increase collaboration between state and local health departments, 
housing agencies, and environmental departments to identify these 
``repeat offender'' houses, take steps to remediate or remove the 
existing lead hazards and treat children who have been exposed. This 
program would be authorized at $5 million annually from fiscal years 
2008 to 2012.
  Currently, the federal government has multiple programs designed to 
addressing lead-based hazards and increase lead poisoning prevention. 
The LEAPP Act would consolidate these task forces to improve 
coordination among all agencies, as well as state, local and community 
stakeholders, and have them develop a strategic plan to maximize 
resources for Federal Government resources.
  The President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks to Children was established in 1997 to help coordinate the 
overall environmental health work in the Executive Branch. The LEAPP 
Act would codify the Task Force to facilitate

[[Page S13457]]

high-level federal coordination for initiatives that improve children's 
environmental health, including lead poisoning prevention and 
abatement.
  While exposure to lead paint remains a primary hazard, other sources 
for lead poisoning are imported products with high levels of lead and 
traditional medications that contain lead. The LEAAP Act would 
authorize the Office of Minority Health and the Office of Refugee 
Resettlement to engage in community-based partnerships to increase 
culturally appropriate education and outreach campaigns to reduce lead 
hazard exposure.
  Since lead accumulates in bones, many pregnant women may unknowingly 
have elevated blood lead levels, which may be passed to their children 
or cause toxic effects on their own organs. Through identifying and 
screening women during pregnancy, we can work to improve the health of 
the mother, her child, and the overall family. The LEAPP Act would 
establish pilot projects to incorporate risk assessment, screening and 
treatment as part of prenatal care for Medicaid populations. This 
program would be authorized at $5 million annually for each of fiscal 
years 2008 through 2012.
  Current law does not require landlords and homeowners to conduct 
lead-based paint inspections before they can lease or sell their homes. 
This legislation not only requires landlords to conduct these 
inspections, but also produce documentation of these inspections and 
remediate any lead-based paint hazards found as a result of these 
inspections before leasing or selling homes.
  Far too many children are exposed to lead-based paint in their homes 
only to return to the same home after being diagnosed as having 
contracted lead poisoning. Under this bill, if the primary residence of 
a child who is less than 6 years of age is in a unit of public or 
private housing, and such child is diagnosed by a certified medical 
practitioner as having contracted lead poisoning, the public housing 
authority or landlord for such residence shall immediately temporarily 
relocate the affected family, conduct an inspection and risk assessment 
for lead, and completely abate the unit in which such child resided.
  Current law and regulation that aim to reduce lead-based poisoning in 
homes do not cover all housing units. If we are to reach our goal of 
eliminating lead poisoning by 2010, we must extend the reach of current 
law and regulations to cover all housing units. This bill will extend 
that coverage to zero bedroom housing, housing for the elderly and 
persons with disabilities. Doing so will provide protections for 
children without regard for the type of dwelling in which they reside.
  The Low Income Housing Tax Credit is the federal government's largest 
housing rehabilitation program. Despite this fact, the LIHTC does not 
have a single lead-based hazard control requirement. This legislation 
sets aside 5 percent of the LIHTC funding for lead-based hazard control 
measures.
  Although weatherization measures can improve energy efficiency and 
save homeowners on energy cost, these measures can also create lead 
hazards in homes. To protect our children from these hazards, this 
legislation requires weatherization programs to do lead hazard controls 
as part of their weatherization work.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue our efforts 
to protect children against lead poisoning.
                                 ______