This week’s guest on REPORT FROM SANTA FE is U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) discussing the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, a bill he cosponsored with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), and which will help protect Americans from harmful chemicals.

Landmark legislation, it took 3 years for Udall and Sen Vitter to get it passed through both houses of the U.S. Legislature and signed into law by President Obama.

In his signing speech for the bill, the President spoke about the long bipartisan history of efforts to clean up the outdoors and protect people from harmful chemicals, adding “Even in the current polarized environment of Washington, D.C., things can work. If we can get this bill done, maybe we can make our POLITICS less toxic as well!”

Udall also discusses the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) and how his Act protects us from toxic chemicals by enacting common sense & necessary reforms to update this 40-year-old legislation. This is a very complex Act and stands to improve the health and quality of life for Americans, and especially the most vulnerable, such as infants, children, and the elderly.

Udall points out that in 40 years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restricted only FIVE chemicals out of the 85,000 chemicals that we are exposed to in our daily life. This new law provides funding and incentives for the EPA to now implement protections for the health of American families and our environment.

Tom Udall is New Mexico's senior senator, serving in the U.S. Senate from 2009 to the present. Udall served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999-2009. Prior to that, he was New Mexico's Attorney General from 1991-1999.