Rodney Frelinghuysen: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I appreciate the gentleman's concerns and share those concerns very deeply, as do…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I appreciate the gentleman's concerns and share those concerns very deeply, as do all members of our committee. Concerns about PFCs have been proliferating nationwide as more evidence becomes available about the toxicity of these compounds. {time} 1500 Our bill does provide $33 billion for the Defense Health Program and another $289 million for the Navy Environmental Restoration Program, nearly $8 million more than requested. However, it has come to our attention that the Department may lack the authority presently to administer blood screening tests or spend funds requested by my colleague for this specific activity. Our committee is certainly committed to working with him and thanks him for his leadership. We will be working very closely with him and closely with the State of Pennsylvania to see what sort of partnerships we could put together to address this problem and what would be a success in Pennsylvania. We could look across the Nation for implementation as well. I thank the gentleman for yielding.”