{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://maloney.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/leading-bipartisan-house-members-urge-universities-to-end-students-use", "Leading Bipartisan House Members Urge Universities to End Students Use of University Debit Cards to Purchase Dangerous Indoor Tanning", "2014-12-18", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "NY", "Carolyn Maloney", "M000087", "maloney.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today Reps. Henry A. Waxman, Frank Pallone, Jr., Rosa L. DeLauro, Carolyn B. Maloney, and Charles W. Dent wrote to eighteen universities urging them to consider ending practices that could endanger their students\u2019 health by allowing them to use university debit cards to pay at indoor tanning salons.\u00a0 A recent study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, found that 18 leading universities allow use of student debit cards to pay for tanning services, and that \u201cthese agreements constitute an endorsement and even encourage indoor tanning, which has been designated as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization.\u201d\nThe study also found that \u201cthe urgency and importance of ending relationships between universities and tanning salons is critical for the health of young adults and the reduction of skin cancer.\u201d\nIn the letters, the members write, \u201cWe believe your university should not be offering incentives to students to engage in activities that put their health are risk.\u00a0 We hope you will undertake a thorough review of the medical evidence and consider immediately ending agreements that allow students to pay for tanning salons with [university] debit cards.\nThe full text of the letter is available below and the list of 18 universities to which the letter was sent is available here.\n\u00a0\nDecember 18, 2014\n\u00a0\nWe are writing to urge you to consider ending the [University]\u2019s practices that could endanger your students\u2019 health by allowing them to use university debit cards to pay for indoor tanning.\n\u00a0\nA recent analysis of 100 of the nation\u2019s largest universities identified 18 universities, including [the University], that allow students to use their university debit card to pay for sessions at local tanning salons.\u00a0 The study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, found that \u201cthese agreements constitute an endorsement and even encourage indoor tanning, which has been designated as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization.\u201d[1]\n\u00a0\nWe are concerned that allowing your students to use university debit cards to pay for tanning sessions endangers their health.\u00a0 There is considerable evidence that tanning beds present a significant cancer risk for users.\u00a0 A study in the British Medical Journal linked over 170,000 cases of skin cancer in the United States each year to indoor tanning.[2]\u00a0 A study in the International Journal of Cancer found that melanoma risks are six times higher for those who report undergoing ten or more tanning sessions by age 30.[3]\u00a0 Another study concluded that because young women are most likely to use these tanning salons, they face the highest risks, with the incidence of melanoma among young women increasing eight-fold between 1970 and 2009.[4]\u00a0 Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration issued a final order reclassifying sunlamp products from class I to class II devices, reflecting increasing concerns about the risks from tanning.[5]\n\u00a0\nThe risks for young users of tanning salons is exacerbated by the fact that these salons frequently provide false and misleading information to teens and young adults.\u00a0 A February 2012 congressional investigation that some of us conducted found that these salons deny the known risks of tanning, falsely claim that tanning has health benefits, fail to follow FDA recommendations on tanning, and specifically target teens with advertising and promotions.[6]\n\u00a0\nThe authors of the new study on university debit cards concluded that \u201c[t]he urgency and importance of ending relationships between universities and tanning salons is critical for the health of young adults and the reduction of skin cancer.\u201d [7]\u00a0\u00a0\n\u00a0\nWe believe your university should not be offering incentives to students to engage in activities that put their health at risk.\u00a0 We hope you will undertake a thorough review of the medical evidence and consider immediately ending agreements that allow students to pay for tanning salons with the [University] debit cards.\nThank you for your consideration.\n\u00a0\nSincerely,\n\u00a0\nCharles W. Dent\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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Henry A. Waxman\n\u00a0\nFrank Pallone Jr.\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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rosa L. DeLauro\n\u00a0\nCarolyn B. Maloney\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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\t  \n\t\t[1] Lindsay Boyers, et al., Buying Indoor Tanning with University Debit Cards, Letter, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (July 2014).\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[2] Indoor Tanning and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer:\u00a0 Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, BMJ (Oct. 2, 2012) (online at https://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e5909).\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[3] Anne E. Cust, et al., Sunbed Use During Adolescence and Early Adulthood is Associated With Increased Risk of Early Onset Melanoma, International Journal of Cancer (May 2011).\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[4] Kurtis B. Reed, et al, Increasing Incidence of Melanoma Among Young Adults:\u00a0 An Epidemiological Study in Olmsted County, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Apr. 2012).\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[5] FDA, General and Plastic Surgery Devices:\u00a0 Reclassification of Ultraviolet Lamps for Tanning, Final Rule (June 2, 2014) (online at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/06/02/2014-12546/general-and-plastic-surgery-devices-reclassification-of-ultraviolet-lamps-for-tanning-henceforth-to).\u00a0\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[6] U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Minority Staff Report, False and Misleading Information Provided to Teens by the Indoor Tanning Industry (Feb. 2012).\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[7] Lindsay Boyers, et al., Buying Indoor Tanning with University Debit Cards, Letter, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (July 2014).", 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": ["http://maloney.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/leading-bipartisan-house-members-urge-universities-to-end-students-use"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7786178030073643, "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"}