Volume 148, No. 56 covering the 2nd Session of the 107th Congress (2001 - 2002) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“INDOOR AIR QUALITY KIT FOR SCHOOLS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2110-H2111 on May 7, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
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INDOOR AIR QUALITY KIT FOR SCHOOLS
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). Pursuant to the order of the House of January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to share with my colleagues that May is Asthma Awareness Month. Last Wednesday on May 1, here on Capitol Hill, we held an entire day of related activities including a hearing and free screenings. I thank my colleagues that participated and found it rewarding and informative.
Meanwhile, Asthma Awareness Day was observed nationally and many cities around the country hosted screenings and festivities to foster awareness about this startlingly increasing health condition in the United States.
As you may know, some 15 million Americans have asthma, and also 50 million suffer from allergies. The incidence of asthma is increasing at an alarming rate, doubling over the last decade and a half. Of particular concern is that the group diagnosed with the highest increase of asthma is children under five years old. I hope that we in Congress can all do our part by promoting knowledge about some simple steps that can be taken to alleviate suffering of asthma and allergy symptoms in our Nation's schools.
To begin, I would like to share what I do for my constituents in the Sixth Congressional District of Florida. In February working with a wonderfully resourceful group called the Allergy and Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics and the Environmental Protection Agency, I mailed this Indoor Air Quality, IAQ, Tools for Schools Action Kits. As you can see, this is a very fine kit and has lots of wonderful things to help schools. I mailed it to all 236 schools in my district, elementary through high school, public and private. These kits provide explanations and suggestions for identifying air quality problems and suggestions for their improvements.
Now, why is indoor air quality important? This is from the EPA: ``The EPA studies of human exposure to air pollutants indicate that indoor level of pollutants may be two to five times and occasionally a hundred times higher than outdoor levels.'' Of course, most of people spend their time indoors. So here are our school children and our teachers captive inside a building all day, charged with building the foundation for their future, the children's future, potentially trapped in a state of dusty or moldy or other respiratory discomfort.
This kit walks a school through setting up an indoor air quality program to make the school an environment of comfort and well-being for all the children and all the adults inside. Let me share the contents of this kit. To begin with there is a video tape with two short episodes. Hosts from the award winning PBS home improvement series,
``This Old House,'' show how one school successfully implemented this kit and explains the importance of healthful indoor air quality and properly maintained school ventilation systems. They point out that many indoor air quality problems can be easily and inexpensively prevented or solved by school maintenance professionals using basic techniques outlined in this video.
Moving along, there is an IAQ coordinator guide check list and sample memos to the school, parents, contractors, and the media. There are also insightful start-up hints. To be most successful, a school would want to assemble a multidisciplinary IAQ team. This might include the school nurse, maintenance staff, teachers, food service staff, housekeeping, air conditioning and heating contractors and someone from the school district or superintendent's office. There is an IAQ problem-solving wheel. It combines identification of symptoms (blue), type, severity, and frequency and timing with environmental factors to finger through on the chart: odors, temperature or humidity problems, exhaust problems, grounds or building sources such as recent paint or pesticides, to arrive at instructions most applicable and helpful.
I am glad to report that most of the suggestions in this kit are inexpensive to implement. Often just planning and organizing can make a monumental difference to indoor air quality in our schools. Finally and encouragingly, the kit reminds the IAQ coordinator that ``implementing an IAQ management program is an ongoing process and not an overnight miracle. Be patient, stay consistent, organize and never forget that you are doing something important for staff and students in your school.''
Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility to our children and their teachers with asthma who also have allergies to ensure that our schools do not worsen their condition. I am pleased that my schools have this tool at their disposal and hope that they might give me some feedback to the progress in implementing it. If any Member would like information on obtaining these kits for your district schools, please contact my staff who will be delighted to help.
Finally, I think something worth checking out, a recent book has come to my attention called ``My House Is Killing Me,'' the home guide for families with allergies and asthma by Mr. May and Mr. Samet is available. It is chock-full of extraordinary information. This is just one of many books. Let us all resolved to help overcome indoor air quality challenges.
Mr. Speaker. I rise to share with all members that May is Asthma Awareness Month. Last Wednesday, May 1, we held an entire day of related activity, including a hearing and free screenings. We heard from physicians, a respiratory therapist, and a school nurse, all experts in diagnosing and treating asthma. We heard from a professional in air quality, from the Environmental Protection Agency, who discussed issues of air quality, dust, mold and other contributors to respiratory distress. We listened to an overseer of the States' Medicaid program to talk about drug formulary and disease management program issues with us. Most importantly, three courageous asthma sufferers came to relate their stories: two enthusiastic school children, Kyle Damitz and Allison Smith, and one hardy NFL football player, Jerome Bettis of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think my colleagues that participated found it rewarding and informative.
As you may know, some 15 million Americans have asthma, and also 50 million suffer from allergies. The incidence of asthma is increasing at an alarming rate, doubling over the last decade and a half. Of particular concern is that the group diagnosed with the highest increase of asthma is children under five years old. I hope that we in Congress can all do our part by promoting knowledge about some simple steps that can be taken to alleviate suffering of asthma and allergy symptoms in our Nation's schools.
I myself have experienced bothersome allergy symptoms for much of my adult life, so I understand how critical it is to assess and modify, if necessary, your environment, and to have knowledgeable, reliable professionals on your healthcare team. I think many of us will agree that it can take patience, creativity, family support, and a sense of pure resolve to tackle your asthma or allergy symptoms, and find the regimen of medication, exercise, household adjustments and overall lifestyle that works for you.
One point I would like to address is how, unfortunately, occasionally works of fiction or media portray the suffering of asthma in a negative light, or a reason for exploitation of a character. For example, in the classic book ``The Lord of the Flies'' a boy who is overpowered by other young men is identified as asthmatic, among other traits, and is therefore thought weak. Also, in a feature movie out last year, ``Pay it Forward,'' schoolyard bullies beat up on a child who helplessly watches his inhaler fly from his pocket. Finally, I understand from the most recent newsletter of the patient advocacy group Allergy and Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics that a character in the animated movie
``Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'' is similarly exploited and mistreated by his classmates. All of us can help promote awareness and understanding of this physical ailment so as to combat any stereotyping about it. To that end, I would like to end my statement marveling at how one young asthmatic schoolboy conquered his labored breathing and went on to a wonderful role in history. I like to call this a story of ``respiration inspiration.'' It is about a little American boy in the 1870's who had very severe asthma. Back then, there were no inhalers or other medicine as we have today. He was often sick and generally very weak as a young boy. Well, he wanted to grow up and go to Harvard University and to hunt and to be in the military and to do many great things with his life. Luckily, he had a wise doctor and loving parents, who suggested he exercise his body along with his mind. His parents installed a sort of ``home gym'' for him, and he devised a strenuous regimen for himself. Today, we can read in a ``Sporting Calendar'' preserved, that from August 21 through December 11, 1871, this young fellow competed with his brothers and make cousins in ``fifteen athletic contests--
running, jumping, vaulting, wrestling, and boxing--and won fourteen of them, drawing the other one.'' [From The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris, 1979.] He still suffered some asthma attacks, but less frequently, and less fearfully. This little boy grew up to become the governor of New York, and the leader of the most famous cavalry unit in the Spanish-American War, and finally, the President of the United States: Theodore Roosevelt. I think that with the attention to medical access, environment, and lifestyle that our hearing will showcase, that any of the children here with us today might follow in Teddy Roosevelt's footsteps. Let asthma slow no-one down!
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