[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 27104-27105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      BAN ASBESTOS IN AMERICA ACT

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, In the nearly 7 years that I have worked 
to pass the Ban Asbestos in America Act, I have been aided by so many 
dedicated and driven individuals without whom this day would not have 
been possible. I wish to take a minute to thank them for all they have 
done.
  I would like to begin by thanking my entire personal staff who have 
taken on this fight with me. Over 7 years many of them have come and 
gone, but I know they are all very proud today because each and every 
one of them, in their own unique way, has helped this effort along.
  In particular I would like to thank Bill Kamela who, as the head of 
my HELP Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, has carried 
the torch on this issue for so many years. Bill has sat with me in 
countless meetings reassuring widows, clearing legislative hurdles, and 
pledging to all to make this ban a reality. Bill's hard work and 
expertise have been essential to making this possible. I would also 
like to thank Anna Knudson, a former member of my staff who had the 
vision and passion to begin this effort.
  I would like to thank Bill's hard-working staff Crystal Bridgeman, 
Mike Waske, and Janice Camp who lent their know-how and support to this 
effort at a critical juncture.
  I would like to thank Alex Glass and my entire press office for their 
work in spreading the word about the importance of this effort. And I 
would like to thank Pete Weissman who recently left my office but whose 
words often helped drive home the urgency of this effort. I would also 
like to thank Mike Spahn who worked with me on the Senate floor to 
guide this bill to passage.

[[Page 27105]]

  I also want to recognize and thank Dr. Barry Castleman, Chris Hahn 
from the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, MaryAnne Dunlap from 
Senator Inhofe's office, Ed Egee from Senator Isakson's office, Linda 
Reinstein from the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, Dr. Aubrey 
Miller, Dr. Greg Meeker, Dr. Richard Lemen, Dr. Mike Harbut, Dr. Harvey 
Pass, Andrew Schneider of the Seattle PI, and Matt Bergman.
  I also want to say that it has been a pleasure to work with Senator 
Isakson's staff, the staff from EPW, and Senator Boxer's staff.
  It takes a lot of people to get something done. A tremendous amount 
of people have worked on this. I thank them. Because of their work, we 
are going to ban asbestos, we are going to dramatically expand research 
and treatment, and we are going to launch a public education campaign 
so all Americans understand how they can protect themselves from the 
deadly asbestos products that may be in their home.

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