{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://boyle.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/casey-boyle-fitzpatrick-meehan-fight-retain-progress-pfcs-final-defense", "Casey, Boyle, Fitzpatrick, Meehan Fight to Retain Progress on PFCs in Final Defense Authorization Bill", "2017-10-30", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "PA", "Brendan Boyle", "B001296", "boyle.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 A bipartisan, bicameral group of Pennsylvania lawmakers including Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Rep. Brendan Boyle (PA-13), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-08),\u00a0and Rep. Pat Meehan (PA-07) are urging House and Senate negotiators to include crucial water contamination language in the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).\u00a0 In a letter addressed to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services, the group pushed for support for their House and Senate-passed amendments to address the ongoing issue of water contamination by perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) like PFOA and PFOS surrounding the former Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster, the former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Horsham, as well as the Horsham Air Guard Station. A House and Senate Conference Committee has been convened to produce one conference bill for the two chambers. The legislators are fighting to ensure their respective \u201cwins\u201d are included in the final conference bill, which will likely be enacted into law by the end of 2017.\n  \n\t\u201cWater contamination as a result of the military\u2019s decades-long use of AFFF is a nationwide problem that the Department of Defense must confront,\u201d reads the letter in part. \u201cA nationwide health study, increased funding for cleanup and community engagement, and accelerated progress towards identifying safer alternative firefighting foams are each vital steps in the right direction of addressing this serious, growing health threat. As representatives of some of the first communities dealing with this problem today, we ask for your support of our bipartisan, bicameral request for the FY18 NDAA conference bill.\u201d\u00a0  \n\t\u00a0  \n\tThe complete text of the letter is below.  \n\t\u00a0  The Honorable John McCain\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Honorable Jack Reed\n\tChairman\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Ranking Member\n\tCommittee on Armed Services\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Committee on Armed Services\n\tUnited States Senate\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0United States Senate\n\tWashington, DC 20510\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Washington, DC 20510\n\t\u00a0\n\tThe Honorable Mac Thornberry\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Honorable Adam Smith\n\tChairman\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Ranking Member\n\tCommittee on Armed Services\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Committee on Armed Services\n\tUnited State House of Representatives\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 United States House of Representatives\n\tWashington, DC 20515\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Washington, DC 20515\n\t\u00a0\n\tDear Chairmen and Ranking Members:\u00a0\n\t\u00a0\n\tAs you negotiate the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we write to ask for your support of various provisions affecting communities in Pennsylvania that are dealing with contaminated drinking water as a result of the use of the firefighting foam Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) at military installations nearby. Because of the broad scope of AFFF, which contains perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) like PFOA and PFOS and is used by entities including the U.S military at more than 600 sites across the country, contaminated drinking water now poses a nationwide public health threat. A growing volume of peer-reviewed studies indicate serious human health risks associated with PFCs like PFOA and PFOS, including links to certain types of cancers and impaired immune system performance. We appreciate you working with us during each chamber\u2019s NDAA process to make substantial progress addressing these issues, and ask for your continued support during the conference process.\n\t\u00a0\n\tFor several years, Pennsylvanians living in communities near the Horsham Air Guard Station, former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, and former Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster have been living with too many questions and not enough answers about the use of AFFF and its impact on their local water quality. Our constituents deserve to understand what impact this contamination has had on their health and the health of their children. We believe that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should conduct a comprehensive, nationwide study of the health effects of these contaminants, with support from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Defense (DoD). We were pleased to see both the House and Senate NDAA adopt language to this effect, as well as the Senate\u2019s action to authorize the more immediate interim step of biomonitoring at eight communities affected by the contamination. The House NDAA also includes language (Section 727) that would authorize DoD to enter into intergovernmental agreements to provide health screenings for conditions relating to PFOS and PFOA exposure in communities near formerly used defense sites that are the sources of contamination. We ask that the committee support authorization of a health study, health screenings and biomonitoring in the final conference agreement.\u00a0\n\t\u00a0\n\tSecond, the Department of Defense has identified 393 active and former sites around the Nation where there was a known or suspected release of PFOS and/or PFOA. Through December 2016, the Department of Defense had already spent approximately $202 million on PFOS and PFOA sampling, analysis, and cleanup; $199 million of that was originally programmed for cleanup activities at other sites. As a result, both the House and Senate increased the authorization for funding of the relevant accounts for environmental restoration and cleanup in recognition of the significant anticipated cost associated with remediation and response as the DOD\u2019s assessment of potential exposure advances. We ask that you support the most substantial increases possible to the following accounts:\n\t\u00a0\n\tSenate Action:\u00a0\n\tEnvironmental Restoration \u2013 Navy: Section 14001 authorizes a $41.6 million increase.\n\tEnvironmental Restoration \u2013 Air Force: Section 14009 authorizes a $20 million increase.\n\tOperations and Maintenance \u2013 Air Guard: Section 14002 authorizes a $5 million increase.\u00a0\n\tOperations and Maintenance \u2013 Navy Reserve: Section 14002 authorizes a $20 million increase.\n\t\u00a0\n\tHouse Action:\u00a0\n\tEnvironmental Restoration \u2013 Navy: Authorization of a $30 million program increase for PFOS / PFOA remediation.\u00a0\n\tEnvironmental Restoration \u2013 Air Force: Authorization of a $30 million program increase for PFOS / PFOA remediation.\n\tThe House Defense Appropriations Act for FY2018 (H.R. 3219) also supported these levels, with bipartisan floor vote of 256-169.\n\t\u00a0\n\tFinally, we firmly believe that the Department of Defense should accelerate its efforts to identify a safe, effective alternative to AFFF that meets the military\u2019s performance requirements without the harmful PFOA and PFOS chemicals. We ask that you support Section 1060 of the House-passed NDAA, which requires a report on research and development progress as well as an assessment of how the establishment of a maximum contaminant level nationwide regulation under the Safe Water Drinking Act, rather than the current health advisory level, would impact DOD\u2019s budget priorities, mitigation and cleanup activities, and research and development related to PFOA and PFOS.\n\t\u00a0\n\tWater contamination as a result of the military\u2019s decades-long use of AFFF is a nationwide problem that the Department of Defense must confront. A nationwide health study, increased funding for cleanup and community engagement, and accelerated progress towards identifying safer alternative firefighting foams are each vital steps in the right direction of addressing this serious, growing health threat. As representatives of some of the first communities dealing with this problem today, we ask for your support of our bipartisan, bicameral request for the FY18 NDAA conference bill.\n\t\u00a0\n\tSincerely,\nRobert P. Casey, Jr., United States Senator\nBrendan F. Boyle, Member of Congress\nPatrick Meehan, Member of Congress\nBrian K. Fitzpatrick, Member of Congress  \n\t\u00a0  \n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://boyle.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/casey-boyle-fitzpatrick-meehan-fight-retain-progress-pfcs-final-defense"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.733646797016263, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}