[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 23, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H1160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            PFAS TASK FORCE

  (Ms. DEAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DEAN. Mr. Speaker, Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania 
Constitution reads: ``The people have a right to clean air, pure water, 
and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic 
values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are 
the common property of all the people.''
  Pure water, it doesn't get any more basic than that. But for years, 
constituents in my district in towns like Horsham, Willow Grove, North 
Hills, and Upper Dublin have worried about the quality of their water 
and the impact of that water on their health and their family's health. 
Like citizens who live near military bases across the country, their 
water supplies have been contaminated with a class of manmade chemicals 
known as PFAS.
  Unfortunately, government has been slow to act. The EPA has attempted 
to block research showing just how dangerous these chemicals really 
are. Testing and cleanup have been insufficient, and, now, day 33 of 
the administration's shutdown, 93 percent of EPA workers are 
furloughed, challenging our ability to deal with this and other 
important issues.
  But today, we in the Congress have launched a bipartisan PFAS Task 
Force. I invite all Members of Congress to work with us on this matter 
of genuine national concern.

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