[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H2812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLIMATE CHANGE

  (Mrs. CAPPS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 
growing threats that climate change poses to public health.
  Increasingly, severe and frequent weather events and heat waves not 
only threaten people's health and safety but also jeopardize our food 
crop production and the availability of clean drinking water. Foodborne 
illnesses, asthma, and cardiovascular disease are expected to worsen in 
a changing climate.
  Despite these anticipated impacts, however, most American health 
professionals do not have the tools they need to prepare for the 
changing needs of their patients, and climate change's threats to human 
health will only escalate with every day that we fail to take action.
  That's why last week I reintroduced the Climate Change Health 
Protection and Promotion Act, which will help health professionals 
prepare for and respond to the public health impacts of climate change.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the impacts of 
climate change, especially when it comes to the health of our friends, 
our neighbors, and our families. I hope we can work together to pass 
this and other commonsense measures to address the critical issue of 
changes to our climate.

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