Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am introducing two bills pertaining to healthy housing, the Healthy Housing Council Act and the Title X Amendments Act. These bills seek to improve federal coordination of healthy housing efforts and better integrate healthy housing activities into the ongoing lead poisoning prevention work at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The crisis in Flint, Michigan reaffirms a tragic reality; millions of Americans, including thousands of children and families in Rhode Island, remain at risk from lead exposure. For example, Rhode Island has the highest percentage of low-income children living in older housing, which poses health risks for these children because of the lead paint used in these older homes. Fortunately, Rhode Island has been a national leader in working to reduce lead hazards and bring down childhood lead poisoning rates. The number of children with elevated blood lead levels has been steadily declining in all areas of Rhode Island over the last decade, from 212 children under the age of 6 in 2005 to 42 children in 2015. But as we have seen this year with the tragedy in Flint, MI, lead poisoning among children is still a huge problem in this country. This is unacceptable, which is why I have long sought to improve and maximize federal finding for lead poisoning prevention programs.…”