Washington, DC – The oldest member of the U.S. Senate, and the longtime champion for chemical policy reform, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has passed away. Andy Igrejas, who grew up in New Jersey and is executive director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition of 450 public health, environment, business and labor groups, issued the following statement:
“We are all deeply saddened to learn of Senator Frank Lautenberg’s passing this morning. He was a genuine public health hero, and the leading champion for protecting the public from toxic chemicals. The Senator never forgot where he came from, and who he was serving. He approached health and environmental issues as a bread-and-butter concern for working families, and he was working hard on their behalf up until the end. He will be missed.”