Political Quotes

“I rise to bring attention to a problem plaguing many aging communities in Ohio and throughout the industrial Midwest. We in this country have a rich manufacturing heritage, none richer than Ohio. We are the third leading manufacturing State in the country, trailing only in production, and trailing only States two and three times our size--Texas and California. We have built an infrastructure in this country that defined the landscape of the modern world. At Ohio plants in places such as Middletown and Youngstown, Ohioans made steel beams that built America's skyscrapers, railroads, and bridges. And at lead smelter sites from Cleveland to Cincinnati, OH, workers processed metal to shore up the economic foundation of 20th century America. But as revealed in a disturbing series of recent reports in USA TODAY, former lead smelter plants have left behind a terrible legacy: elevated lead levels in the soil and in the air and surrounding playgrounds and schools, especially in poorer areas of our cities. Many of these potentially contaminated places are in underresourced, aging areas where homes are not necessarily in good shape and where neighborhoods are plagued with many other problems as well. Yesterday I met with Angelina and Ken Shefton in Cleveland at a property that is within breathing distance of an old lead smelter site. What is even more troubling is that they didn't even know this existed. They are parents of five.…”