Louis Stokes: “Mr. Speaker, nearly one person in four in this country lives close to a Superfund site. We know all too well what the…”

“Mr. Speaker, nearly one person in four in this country lives close to a Superfund site. We know all too well what the result of that fact is: too many reported cases of cancer and other diseases caused by breathing, eating, and drinking too many hazardous contaminants. This motion is pretty simple. If you want to be on record for doing as much as possible to clean up Superfund sites around the country and reduce the amounts of hazardous pollutants to which your constituents are exposed, you vote for this motion. Supporting this motion does not bust the budget. Although the budget resolution assumed funding for the Superfund program at the enhanced level of $2.1 billion, the level called for by the administration as part of the so-called Kalamazoo initiative, the House level is still $600 million below that. The total Superfund spending in the House-passed bill is $1.5 billion, compared with $1.4 billion in the Senate. The House amount is definitely superior to the Senate's recommendation in several ways: The House version provides $28 million, or 14 percent more, for Superfund enhancement activities, $5 million more for research activities, and $12 million more for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.”