Pardon my grammar, but this is a story I just discovered in Nancy Chuda’s blog entry at the Huffington Post, which is both an indictment of the Republican Party’s hypocritical branding meme “compassionate conservatism,” but also a deeply foolish and harmful decision which will negatively impact the future of our children and grandchildren. It seems that Bush and the Republican Party have chosen to cancel funding for the National Children’s Study a long term research project that was intended to . . .
. . . examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21. The goal of the study is to improve the health and well-being of children.
The study defines “environment” broadly and will take a number of issues into account, including:
* Natural and man-made environment factors
* Biological and chemical factors
* Physical surroundings
* Social factors
* Behavioral influences and outcomes
* Genetics
* Cultural and family influences and differences
* Geographic locationsResearchers will analyze how these elements interact with each other and what helpful and/or harmful effects they might have on children’s health. By studying children through their different phases of growth and development, researchers will be better able to understand the role of these factors on health and disease. Findings from the study will be made available as soon as possible as the research progresses.
The study will also allow scientists to find the differences that exist between groups of people, in terms of their health, health care access, disease occurrence, and other issues, so that these differences or disparities can be addressed.
In short, basic research which would go a long way to identifying environmental factors in childhood illnesses, and help us to begin to find ways to ameliorate those environmental conditions so that we can keep our kids healthy and safe. The first results from the study were expected to be issued in 2008-09, but all that is up in the air at the moment thanks to this budget cutting measure by Republicans, which just happens to be contemporaneous with their plan to make the elimination of the estate tax permanent. The elimination of the estate tax will, as you know, benefit primarily the wealthiest 1% of Americans.
**This diary is an ACTION ALERT. A link to Phone numbers for your Congressional Representatives and Senators can be found below the fold**
Allow me to quote Nancy Chuda on why this particular study is so important:
As parents who lost a child to an illness we believe could have been prevented, my husband and I feel that our right to know is a moral right. Had we known what I may have been exposed to during my pregnancy that may have triggered the development of Colette’s Wilm’s Tumor, she might have lived to celebrate her twentieth birthday.
Prevention is a very necessary part for the cure of any disease. Without having access to vital information that can prevent childhood diseases like asthma and cancer, parents and caregivers are at a loss to understand the complex impact of cumulative exposures to toxins in the environment and how they affect children who are “not little adults.”
Currently, science is proving that children are more vulnerable and their health is at risk due to these exposures. Without having access to vital information that details where and when these exposures occur, especially pesticides which can cause nerve damage and learning disabilities, parents are at a loss and inadvertently may be exposing their children in their own homes and schools to chemicals that should be avoided or banned.
The truth may be inconvenient to our government as science continues to prove that children’s health is risk. In 1995, having testified before The House Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health and the Environment for H.R. 1627, The Food Quality Protection Act, I stated, “There is no benefit to a nation that allows its most vulnerable members to be at risk.”
What she’s not saying explicitly, I will. The Chemical and Pesticide industries don’t want us to discover the dangerous impacts their products may have on our children’s health and development. Why? Because it would seriously impact their future profits if links between various chemicals and childhood illnesses could be established. I have little doubt K-Street lobbyists for the companies that manufacture these chemicals had a few suggestions for their Republican “friends” in Congress and at the White House regarding the funding of this study, and other research regarding environmental influences on human health.
Here’s a handy chart showing campaign contributions by the Chemical Industry over the last 16 years:
As you can see, they’ve spent millions of dollars in each election cycle, with more than 75% of that money allocated to Republicans. Is it any wonder that, with Republican control of both the White House and Capitol Hill, we are now seeing seeing budget cuts in basic research that could identify the harmful effects to our kids from chemicals in the environment? Chemicals produced by the very companies who have helped fund that Republican takeover of our Federal Government.
Nancy Chuda says the truth which this study might reveal may be inconvenient, echoing the title of Al Gore’s documentary on global warming. How right she is. So far the Federal Government, over the last 6 years has spent approximately 50 million dollars, in total, on this study. Fifty million dollars, or roughly $8.4 million per year. This is not a budget buster, by any stretch of the imagination, and unlike the Iraq war, where $50 million is spent every few hours, this is money for research that will improve the lives of millions of American children.
Please, call your Senator or Congressperson today, and demand that they restore funding for The National Children’s Study. Tell them also to stop fooling around with the health of our children.
You can find phone numbers for your Senators and Representatives using this website: LINK.
Please take action today. Thank you.
