Mike Levin: “Mr. President, Dr. Graham has consistently said, as he stated in the above quotations, dioxin is a known carcinogen.…”

“Mr. President, Dr. Graham has consistently said, as he stated in the above quotations, dioxin is a known carcinogen. What he went on to suggest as an EPA subcommittee member is that there be an additional comment, supported by two studies, that very low levels of dioxin may reduce the risk of cancer, calling for full disclosure about two studies. It turns out, Mr. President, that in the final report of that EPA subcommittee, his suggestions were adopted. The final report--not his, but the EPA subcommittee--says: There is some evidence that very low doses of dioxin may result in decreases in some adverse responses, including cancer . . . That may sound absurd to us, but we are not experts--at least I am not an expert--and it seems to me that where you have somebody of this reputation who, as part of an EPA subcommittee, points to two studies which he says suggests that it is possible that at low levels dioxin could actually be an anticarcinogen, and then the EPA subcommittee actually adopts that suggestion, for that to be characterized that he thinks dioxin is good, or something similar to that, is a serious mischaracterization of what happened.”