Congressman Dan Kildee Talks PFAS Task Force, COVID Relief and Equality Act
Rep. Kildee says Congressional work on PFAS contamination can finally make some real progress under the new Biden administration.
Rep. Dan Kildee at the 2019 Mackinac Policy Conference. Kildee announced Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, that he would not seek reelection next year after the end of his sixth term.
This was a busy week in Washington. A COVID relief bill is still in the works, which the Senate parlimentarian decided yesterday would not include a $15 minimum wage provision. Rep. Dan Kildee says this was because Congress is using a budget reconciliation process. Additionally, the House passed the Equality Act, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
“There is no equality unless it’s universal… we don’t have equality until everyone gets to share in it.” Rep. Dan Kildee (MI-05)
According to Kildee, President Biden intends to focus more on harmful PFAS chemicals during his administration, and this coincides with the recent re-launch of the Congressional PFAS Task Force. This task force, led by Kildee, will work to address the harmful effects of per- and polyfluoroakyl substances.
Listen: Congressman Dan Kildee on this week’s news from Washington.
Guest:
Congressman Dan Kildee represents Michigan’s 5th Congressional District. He helped create the Congressional PFAS Task Force at the start of 2019, which was re-launched last month. “We relaunched (the Congressional PFAS Task Force) because while we have had some success, we’ve got a lot more work to do,” he says. Kildee adds that he believes the Biden Administration will make things move faster, but permanent solutions are needed to fight harmful contamination. “We’ll still want to legislate these things because administrations don’t last forever. Unfortunately PFAS does,” he says.
Kildee also discusses the recently passed Equality Act, which creates sweeping protections for LGBTQ Americans. Kildee explains the legislation “says that the promise of the 1964 Civil Rights Act… will be extended on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity… so you can no longer be fired or evicted from housing based on (these things).” To those who objected to the bill, Kildee says, “there is no equality unless it’s universal… we don’t have equality until everyone gets to share in it.”
Web story by Nora Rhein.
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