Jerry Moran: “I want to thank Mr. Waxman for his constant, credible leadership. He is saying what all Americans should be aware of.…”

“I want to thank Mr. Waxman for his constant, credible leadership. He is saying what all Americans should be aware of. This is an incredibly important piece of legislation. Mr. Chairman, power plants emit 96,000 pounds of mercury into the air we breathe every year. Yet this bill would prevent EPA from regulating mercury. Mercury is an extremely dangerous neurotoxin. It damages children's developing brains, reducing their IQ and their ability to learn. At low levels of exposure, it causes insomnia, neuromuscular changes, headaches, disturbances in sensations, changes in nerve responses and impairment of cognitive functions. Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected in this way. But at higher exposures, it affects kidneys, causes respiratory failure and death. One gram of mercury, a tiny drop, can be enough to contaminate 200 million gallons of water, which is the size of a 20-acre, 30-foot deep lake. All but one State, Alaska, have issued health advisories warning their residents against eating fish caught in their waters because of mercury contamination. It goes up in the air from the power plants, then when it rains, it goes into the water, it poisons the fish, and ultimately it poisons human beings. Two States, Oklahoma and Maine, have issued Statewide fresh water advisories that you should be wary of eating any large fish due to the possibility of mercury poisoning.…”