Public Health
Public health initiatives are unique in that they target the health of our communities, our nation, and world rather than the individual. Broad, community-focused health programs are essential to ensure that each American citizen lives in a healthier and safer world. Congresswoman Slaughter has spent her career fighting to improve public health and wellness.
With a Master’s degree in public health, the congresswoman is an expert in the field and has spent her career fighting to improve public health and wellness. Congresswoman Slaughter serves to protect children and families from environmental toxins harmful to development, is on the frontlines of guarding against genetic discrimination, is a watchdog for food safety, and advocates for expanded research and funding into public health and program development.
Priorities
- Healthy Environments: As the primary advocate for full federal funding of lead poisoning prevention programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Congresswoman Slaughter fights to protect children and families from environmental toxins harmful to human health and development. She spearheads the charge in Congress to restore funding to childhood lead poisoning programs which have been slashed in recent years on both the state and federal levels.
- Food Safety: American citizens should not have to worry that the food on their tables is going to make them sick. This is why Congresswoman Slaughter is fighting to keep dangerous, contaminated foods out of the grocery stores and force companies to ensure that products are safe for sale and consumption.
- Genetic Privacy: With the genomic revolution, it is easier than ever for people and health care providers to access genetic information. Congresswoman Slaughter recognizes that this information must be protected in the same way as other personal information and shouldn’t be used for discriminatory purposes.
- Research and Development: The congresswoman shares the growing concern that hormone-disrupting pollutants in our environment may explain the rise in occurrences of childhood cancers, testicular cancer, juvenile diabetes, thyroid disorders, learning disabilities, cognitive impairments, and autoimmune disorders over the past 30 years. Despite the progress made in understanding the link between these chemicals and hormone disruption, further research is needed. Congresswoman Slaughter believes that investing in research today could prevent and treat a broad range of diseases and disorders in future generations.
Accomplishments
- Lead Poisoning Prevention: In May 2012, Congresswoman Slaughter and 25 colleagues called on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to adopt blood lead level recommendations proposed by the CDC Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention (ACCLPP). CDC adopted this new standard in October 2012 and published the first set of statistics with the new findings in April 2013, which showed that 535,000 U.S. children under the age of six are poisoned by lead. Congresswoman Slaughter continues to fight for appropriate funding for childhood lead poisoning prevention programs. Not only did she secure $110 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control after it was cut to $50 million, but she also successfully restored funding for the CDC’s Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program to $15 million after it was cut to $2 million in Fiscal Year 2012.
- Lead Hazard Title X Amendments Act: In 2013, the congresswoman introduced H.R. 1282, The Lead Poisoning Title X Amendments Act, which would modernize the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Program and broaden the categories of those eligible to receive lead hazard abatement grants.
- Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA): Congresswoman Slaughter authored the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which became law in 2008 after a fourteen-year congressional battle. The late Senator Ted Kennedy called GINA the “the first civil rights bill of the new century.” This law prohibits health insurers and employers from using genetic information to discriminate against an individual. For instance, prior to GINA, an employer could refuse to hire or fire someone with a family history of breast cancer or other hereditary illnesses. The congresswoman continues to oversee the implementation of GINA and to monitor the developments in genetics and genomics to determine whether additional policy improvements are needed. You can read more about this important issue in an article written by Louise in the Harvard Journal on Legislation here.
- Pathogen Reduction and Testing Reform Act (PRTRA): In 2013, there was a massive outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella heidelberg caused by Foster Farms chicken that sickened over 630 people from 29 states and Puerto Rico and sent 38 percent of those sickened to the hospital. In response, Congresswoman Slaughter and her colleague, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, introduced PRTRA. The bill would grant USDA the authority to issue mandatory recalls for meat, poultry, or egg products with any antibiotic resistant or other microbial contaminant the USDA deems dangerous.
- The DES Education and Research Amendments of 1993: Diethylstilbestrol (DES) was an anti-miscarriage drug commonly used in the early 1990s that was discovered to carry serious health consequences for some women and their children in utero. Stunningly, common use of this compound was ended in cattle nearly 20 years before the same protections were extended to women. Congresswoman Slaughter battled in Congress for the DES Education and Research Amendments, which amended the Public Health Service Act to provide public health education, health professional training, and additional research on the long-term effects of DES. The congresswoman authored follow-up legislation, the DES Education and Research Amendments, which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in October 1998.
More on Public Health
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-25) and Senator Al Franken (MN) today led a bipartisan, bicameral effort urging the International Code Council (ICC) to make commonsense reforms that would ensure renovated homes built prior to 1978 are free from hazardous levels of lead dust, which could cause lifelong cognitive damage in children. Similar reforms have already been passed into law in the City of Rochester and the State of Minnesota.
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Louise Slaughter announced a multi-million dollar award for Carestream Health from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to supply critical picture archiving and communications system products to the four U.S. military branches.
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-25) announced today that the Mt. Hope Family Center has received a five-year $1.9 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide trauma treatment services for children and families exposed to a wide array of stress and trauma and to promote policies that support trauma-informed care. The Mt. Hope Family Center is the only member and Category III provider for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network in New York State outside the New York City area.
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-25), a member of the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus, today recognized September as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with a statement placed in the official Congressional Record. This year alone, an estimated 16,000 children under the age of 21 will be diagnosed with cancer. Slaughter’s statement recognizes children like Rochester’s own Amanda Conrow, who lost her battle with ependymoma, a cancer of the brain and central nervous system, last year.
Slaughter Announces More Than $210,000 in Funding to Help Monroe County Crime Lab Reduce DNA Backlog
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-25) today announced a grant of $211,228 for the Monroe County Crime Lab (MCCL) through the Department of Justice’s DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Program. The MCCL provides forensic analysis for law enforcement and public safety agencies across Monroe County and seven surrounding counties, serving more than a million people. This funding will be used to help the crime lab increase the rate of DNA testing to reduce its backlog of cases.
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-25), the only microbiologist in Congress, announced today that the National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded a $436,989 grant to the Rochester Institute of Technology. The funding will be used to develop new narrow-spectrum antibiotics to help combat the growing threat posed by antibiotic resistant bacteria. Slaughter is the author of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act and has led the national effort to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Dianne Feinstein and Representatives Rosa Luisa DeLauro and Louise Slaughter today wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture urging them to revise current pathogen testing protocols to improve test accuracy and protect the public health. The members wrote to USDA Secretary, Thomas J.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-25) released this statement on the decision by Republican leaders to recess until after the Fourth of July holiday without holding a vote on bipartisan legislation to address gun violence. Slaughter spoke on the House Floor during the sit-in to demand that Speaker Ryan and House Republicans allow a vote on these measures:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) joined families impacted by dangerous medical devices Wednesday outside the U.S. Capitol to announce the introduction of a package of bills to reform the review process for medical devices and increase access to legal recourse for victims of unsafe devices.
ROCHESTER, NY — Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-25) and Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20) today joined local advocates in calling for additional federal funding and legislation to help combat lead poisoning. Slaughter and Tonko highlighted their efforts to protect children and communities from lead poisoning, including the AQUA Act, legislation designed to rebuild and repair our national water infrastructure.