Barbara Boxer: “According to this story: [T]he draft bill, obtained by Hearst Newspapers, is in the form of a Microsoft Word document.…”

“According to this story: [T]he draft bill, obtained by Hearst Newspapers, is in the form of a Microsoft Word document. Rudimentary digital forensics . . . shows the ``company'' of origin to be the American Chemistry Council. Imagine: The bill that was being circulated came right out of the computer of the American Chemistry Council. How could anyone believe it was a fair and just bill that protected the public? That document was not simply a set of comments by the chemical industry. It was circulated as the most current draft of the bill at the time. Everyone will see the story, and I commend the reporter for doing this deep investigation. But I never gave up on the bill. I continued to negotiate with my colleagues. I commend Senators Whitehouse, Merkley, and Booker. They went forward and negotiated some significant fixes to that disastrous bill as it moved through the EPW Committee. Their improvements were very important but still many serious flaws remained. My State of California and other States that had programs to regulate chemicals and all these public interests--probably 450 public organizations that protect the health of our children, of our families, of our elderly, of our disabled--were all strongly against it. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a list of letters from States and many organizations demonstrating the opposition to and concern with the bill.…”