Progress Report
In September 2008, the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the House of Representatives issued a News Release introducing HR 6903, the "Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2008," sponsored by Representative Gene Green, the Chairman of the Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee. The Meso Foundation was very happy to see movement on this legislation, and looked forward to working with Rep. Green and the co-sponsors on the legislation in 2009 as Green mentioned in his opening remarks when introducing this bill (click to view Rep. Green's Introductory Speech.) 2009 ushered in a new government with a new President and new and returning members of Congress. During this transition, Representative Henry Waxman of California's 30th district took over as Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. In order to help ensure his policy motivations towards creating a clean and healthy environment, Rep. Waxman needed to restructure the Committee. The new format split the Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee; Environment issues are under the jurisdiction of the Environment and Energy Subcommittee while Hazardous Materials issues were taken up by the Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee. Although Rep. Gene Green is no longer the Chairman of the Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee we are working closely with his office to ensure that he will continue to support and reintroduce HR 6903 in the 111th Congressional Session. To help us on our mission to ban asbestos and ensure federal funding for mesothelioma research we are asking members of the Meso Community to visit our Action Center. Through the Action Center you can contact your House Representative and welcome them to Congress with our pre-written template. We want to build our relationships with Capitol Hill and ask our representation to support this bill once it is presented to them. Second, we are asking everyone to call their Representative's district office to schedule an appointment to meet with him or her and share your meso story. By creating and continuing these connections we can show the faces of meso to our government and help show them the human side to this tragic situation.
The only way to end this deadly disease is to ensure the necessary funding for a cure is made available.
The following links will provide access to tools and information to aid you in your advocacy efforts:
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