About the Environmental Justice Program
> Ask Congress to Support the
Nationwide Health Tracking Act of 2002
Chronic diseases are responsible for 70% of all deaths in America,
but there is no national system for adequately tracking these
diseases and environmental factors that may be related to them.
With the incidence of chronic diseases like cancer, asthma and
birth defects on the rise, we need information to better identify
their causes and develop prevention programs.
On March 21st, 2002, new legislation was introduced in Congress
by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Harry Reid (D-NV) and
Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Peter King
(R-NY), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY).
The Nationwide Health Tracking Act of 2002 (H.R.4061/S.2054)
would establish a Nationwide Health Tracking Network to track
when and where chronic diseases occur, as well as their potential
links to environmental factors.
The Network would coordinate national, state, and local efforts
to inform communities, public health officials, researchers, and
policymakers of potential environmental health risks. This information
will be used to target resources and strengthen our capacity to
identify, understand, rapidly respond to, and prevent chronic
disease.
Please approach all members of Congress and especially those you
think would be less receptive to the legislation and urge them
to co-sponsor the Nationwide Health Tracking Act of 2002 (H.R.4061/S.2054).
> Call your Representatives through
the Capitol switchboard (202) 225-3121.
> Click
here for a letter tailored to this cause.
As Catholics, we are called to participate intimately in sustaining
God’s creation by caring for our children and their physical
environment. We are particularly concerned about the poor and
the powerless who most directly bear the burden and suffer disproportionately
from the effects of environmental problems that may be causing
diseases like cancer and asthma, and harming children, born and
unborn.
“The whole human race suffers as a result of environmental
blight, and generations yet unborn will bear the price for the
failure to act today,” —Renewing the Face of the
Earth, United States. Catholic Bishops, 1991.
For more information on children’s health and the environment,
contact Roxana Barillas at 202-541-3445 or rbarillas@usccb.org.