Thirty years ago, when I first introduced legislation to prevent lead paint poisoning, some people blamed the parents. 

             “They don’t keep their rental units clean.  They don’t teach their children not to put things in their mouths,” we were told. 

             The compromise bill we passed in 1994, the Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing law, struck the appropriate balance.  Landlords who complied with the law could offer decent, safe, and affordable housing and limit their liability in court if a young tenant was poisoned. 

             That legislation, plus a major increase in funding for prevention, has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of children damaged for life by this preventable disease. 

             As this committee considers the bills before it today, I ask you to bear that history in mind.

             That’s how I began my testimony today before the House Environmental Matters Committee. 

 —  

               Rush Limbaugh can call Sandra Fluke a slut and a prostitute. 

               Meanwhile, my Republican colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee are quivering at the prospect of requiring campaign contributors in Maryland elections to list their employer. 

               People would be harassed, they complained. 

               I pointed out that this disclosure is already required for federal campaigns.