Barbara Boxer: “I am very hopeful that this amendment, unlike the other one that I have pending, will get the support of my friends on…”

“I am very hopeful that this amendment, unlike the other one that I have pending, will get the support of my friends on the other side of the aisle. For a long time I have been talking about the need for a children's environmental protection act. It is very important we understand that our children are not little adults; they are quite different from adults. They are growing; they are changing; and certain exposures are much more harmful to them than they would be for us. My amendment does two things. It gives parents notification before toxic pesticides are applied in their children's schools. It also requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to distribute to schools its guide on the establishment of a least-toxic-pesticide policy. In other words, we have already got the work done. Here it is. It talks about how we can lessen the bad impact on our children by using the kinds of products that will harm them the least. Right now, the EPA does send this out, but it is a spotty situation; they don't send it to all of the schools. What we are asking for is a 48-hour notice so parents know that these substances are being sprayed, if they are, in fact, toxic, and if they are, in fact, a product that could harm the children. Of course, what we really want to do is lower the use of toxic pesticides. That would be the very best thing we could do. That is our ultimate hope.”