Political Quotes

“Alan Reinstein was diagnosed with mesothelioma on June 16, 2003 and underwent radical surgery to remove his affected lung, diaphragm, and other parts of his body. Today, Alan continues his courageous battle with this terrible illness. I received a phone call last week from my brother Don, indicating that a long-time family friend, Harold Hansen, had died from mesothelioma. I am submitting a resolution today to designate the first day of April of next year as National Asbestos Awareness Day. Harold Hansen was a family friend, such a wonderful man. In fact, my brother called me a short time ago and said: Harold is sick. He has mesothelioma. I said: Did he ever work around asbestos? And he said not that he remembers. I knew a lawyer who might be able to help him and referred him to the lawyer. Now Harold is dead. This is a terribly difficult problem in America. I talked about Alan; his wife Linda could not just sit back and watch her husband suffer. Knowing others were also suffering, she helped create the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization to unite asbestos victims. One goal of the organization is to educate the public and the medical community about asbestos-caused diseases. The occurrence of asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer is growing. Over the next decade, it is estimated that 100,000 victims in the United States alone will die of asbestos-related disease. About 30 a day will die from this condition.”