Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is widespread in the environment and particularly harmful to developing children. Recently, the U.S. Senate passed my bill, the Mercury Reduction Act of 2002, which will reduce the presence of mercury in our environment by banning the sale of mercury thermometers and by taking the first steps toward a national mercury policy for the retirement of surplus mercury. Mercury fever thermometers are one of the most common and widely distributed sources of mercury. Many of us know from personal experience that they are easily broken. In fact, in 1998 the American Poison Control Center received 18,000 phone calls from consumers who had broken mercury thermometers. One mercury thermometer contains about one gram of mercury. Despite its small size, the mercury in one thermometer, if released annually into the environment, is enough to contaminate all the fish in a 20-acre lake. Forty states, including Maine, have issued freshwater fish advisories that warn certain individuals, such as pregnant women and children, to restrict or avoid consuming fish from affected bodies of water. Mercury takes on a highly toxic organic form known as methylmercury when it enters the environment. Methylmercury is readily absorbed into the blood and distributed to all tissues including the brain. A 2000 National Academy of Sciences report estimates that every year, mercury exposure places over 60,000 newborn children at risk for birth defects and brain damage. My bill calls for a nationwide ban on the sale of mercury fever thermometers. It also will provide grants for community swap programs to help consumers exchange mercury thermometers for digital or other alternatives. Digital thermometers are easier to read, much quicker to use, don't break easily, and don't contain a toxic element. My bill will allow millions of consumers across the nation to receive free digital thermometers in exchange for their mercury thermometers. By bringing mercury thermometers in for proper disposal, consumers will ensure the mercury from their thermometers doesn't end up polluting our lakes and threatening our health. The mercury collected from the thermometer exchange programs must not only be taken out of our homes but also out of the environment. Another important provision of the bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure that the mercury is properly collected and stored in order to keep it out of the environment and out of global commerce. In addition to thermometers, mercury is found in certain industrial plants. Two years ago when the HoltraChem manufacturing plant in Orrington, Maine closed, it left behind more than 100 tons of unwanted mercury and no known way to permanently dispose of it. In total, about 3,000 tons of mercury is held at similar plants across the United States. The Department of Defense currently has a stockpile of over 4,000 tons of mercury that it doesn't want and doesn't know what to do with. In addition, large amounts of mercury still are being mined around the world. My bill addresses these broader problems in two ways. First, my bill authorizes $1 million per year for the EPA to acquire and manage surplus mercury. This provision will allow the EPA to purchase and safely manage surplus mercury, such as that at HoltraChem, in order to ensure that this mercury is not released to the environment. Second, the bill creates a Mercury Task Force chaired by the Administrator of the EPA and comprised of members from other federal agencies involved with mercury. This task force is directed to identify comprehensive solutions to the global mercury problem. In one year, the interagency task force will make recommendations to Congress for permanently disposing of mercury, for retiring mercury from chlor-alkali plants and other sources, and for reducing the amount of new mercury mined every year. In the meantime, my bill will make significant progress toward reducing one of the most widespread sources of mercury contamination in the environment — mercury fever thermometers. It will also provide EPA with the resources to begin removing surplus mercury from commerce. In the end, our children will be healthier and our environment cleaner as a result of this legislation.