Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I rise today in support of a provision of a bill that we are going to pass in the Senate by unanimous consent in the…”

“I rise today in support of a provision of a bill that we are going to pass in the Senate by unanimous consent in the next couple of days. I thank Senators Kennedy, Hatch, and Kassebaum for working with me on a very important amendment for my State. The bill is the Disadvantaged Minority Health Improvement Act of 1993, S. 1569. The amendment that I rise to support will grant the establishment and operation of border State health and environmental labs along the United States-Mexico border. This provision supports and leverages the important laboratory work our border States are already providing. I commend and thank the managers of the bill for incorporating the provision which is so important to all of the border States. Currently, all of the border States suffer from a critical shortage of environmental and occupational health monitoring and surveillance and efficient analytical laboratory services to support local and State health and environmental agencies. As population and commerce increases along the border as a result of our commitment to hemispheric free trade, the need for state-of-the-art laboratory capacity will only increase.”