PHLBI Urges Senate to Ban Asbestos
PHLBI “applauds Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash) for her steadfast leadership on behalf of the mesothelioma patient and research community and offers its endorsement of her legislation, ‘Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007.’” Senator Murray has worked tirelessly for over 5 years to ban asbestos use in the United States. The three fold act would ban asbestos, invest in research and treatment, and launch a public awareness campaign to protect American workers and families.
The effort to ban asbestos is a joint effort supported by organizations dedicated to eradicating mesothelioma: The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, White Lung Association, International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, Environmental Information Association, Lincoln County Asbestos Victims' Relief Organization, and Pacific Heart Lung and Blood Institute. He commends Senator Murray’s steadfast leadership to pass the “Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007.”.
To view the text of the Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007, please click here
Over the past 5 years Senator Patty Murray has been working on a very important piece of legislation called the Ban Asbestos in America Act. From its inception PHLBI has been a supporter Senator Murray’s work and Dr. Robert B. Cameron has assisted in crafting language for the bill that would make provisions for mesothelioma research funding. “ Mesothelioma victims of today built our country as pipe fitters, insulators, boilermakers, electricians, and shipbuilders, among others, and a third of today’s mesothelioma victims served the U.S. on Navy ships or shipyards. Families have been destroyed by second hand fiber exposure when these heroes brought asbestos from their livelihood into their home.” PHLBI praises the legislation Senator Murray introduced for placing a high priority on federal funding for mesothelioma research and mandating a collaborative effort be made among the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to find the disease in its early stages so that newer therapies can prolong patients’s lives.
Sue Vento, widow of former Congressman Bruce Vento testified at Senate hearings. Vento described the experience her late husband had in his battle with mesothelioma that took his life on October 10, 2000, just ten months after being diagnosed.
To read and hear all the testimony from the hearing click here: http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2007_03_01/2007_03_01.html
Learn more about Senator Patty Murray’s efforts to pass this important legislation, including audio from the hearing on Capitol Hill and more.
http://murray.senate.gov/photos/display.cfm?id=270078
http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=270031
Mesothelioma is a malignant tumor that aggressively and painfully invades the lining of the lungs, heart, or stomach until it destroys the vital organs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos. Diagnosis is difficult and often delayed. About 3,000 Americans die from mesothelioma each year, and its incidence is expected to rise in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.