Arkansas Senators Say the Voice of "We The people" Doesn't Count - Secure Arkansas

Arkansas Senators Say the Voice of “We The people” Doesn’t Count

February 25, 2011 Press Releases, Water Issues

Press Release

(Little Rock) The Arkansas State Senate voted yesterday to mandate water fluoridation. While the Arkansas House and Senate perform their votes in a stunning rapidity that will affect the majority of residents in Arkansas, the public’s concerns have been excluded from the process. Many cities in Arkansas have voted to keep additional fluoride from being added to their water supply. By their actions the Arkansas Senators are saying that the voices of the people don’t count.

Even though the federal government admits that children are fluoride-overdosed and that fluoride’s benefits are primarily topical, the Arkansas State Senate passed legislation to require additional cities to add unnecessary chemicals into their constituents via the water supply, clearly putting many Arkansas residents at risk for even more dental fluorisis.

The basis for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) January 7, 2011, recommendation to lower the level in drinking water was based on new national survey data that found significant levels of dental fluorosis, which is an indication of overexposure, in 41% or 2 out of 5 adolescents ages 12-15.

Another national statistic reported in 2005 is that Blacks and Hispanics have significantly higher levels of more severe dental fluorosis than whites, making this an Environmental Justice issue. (Click here for Table 23.)

Secure Arkansas urges the representatives of Arkansas to delay their vote until the outcome of the new HHS/EPA assessments and recommendations on health risks of the maximum level of fluoride as a contaminant in drinking water are known. This information could find that there is no safe level.

The Bill (HB 359) Sponsors are:
(D) Senator David Johnson D-32
(D) Rep. Linda S. Tyler D-45

The Co-Sponsors are:
(D) Rep. Fred Allen D-33
(D) Senator Jack Crumbly D-16
(D) Senator Joyce Elliot D-33
(D) Rep. Billy W. Gaskill D-78
(R) Senator Jonathan Dismang D-29
(D) Senator Linda Chesterfield D-34
(D) Senator Jim Luker D-17
(D) Rep. Mark Perry D-44
(D) Rep. Randy Stewart D-23
(D) Rep. John W. Walker D-34
(D) Rep. James L. Word D-16
(D) Rep. Butch Wilkins D-74
(D) Senator David Wyatt D-12
(D) Rep. David Fielding D-5
(D) Rep. Henry “Hank” Wilkins D-17
(D) Senator Jimmy Jeffress D-24
(D) Rep. Greg Leding D-92
(R) Senator Michael Lamoureux D-4
(D) Senator Robert Thompson D-11
(D) Rep. Tommy Lee Baker D-55
(D) Rep. Kathy Webb D-37
(D) Senator Paul Bookout D-14
(D) Rep. Efrem Elliott D-11
(R) Senator Jake Files D-13
(D) Rep. Clark Hall D-13
(D) Rep. Johnnie J. Roebuck D-20
(D) Rep. Fredrick J. Love D-35
(D) Rep. Reginald Murdock D-52
(D) Senator Stephanie Flowers D-5
(D) Rep. Tracy Steele D-39
(D) Rep. Darrin Williams D-36
(D) Senator David Burnett D-15
(R) Senator Eddie Joe Williams D-28
(D) Senator Gene Jeffress D-25
(D) Rep. Barry Hyde D-40
(R) Rep. Allen Kerr D-32
(D) Rep. Buddy Lovell D-56
(D) Senator Percy Malone D-26
(D) Senator Mary Anne Salmon D-31
(D) Rep. Tommy Thompson D-60
(R) Rep. Jon Woods D-93