Kildee Leads Michigan Congressional Delegation Calling for $5 Million for Flint Registry

WASHINGTON-Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, along with the entire bipartisan Michigan congressional delegation, today called on the Biden administration to include $5 million for the Flint Registry in the President's Fiscal Year 2023 budget, which outlines the administration's funding priorities.

"The Flint Registry is a powerful tool to improve the lives of those exposed to lead-contaminated water. Flint's water crisis is not an anomaly, it is a warning to other communities that we must get more serious about removing lead from our communities. The Flint Registry is an important public health program for Flint and for communities everywhere that continue to disparately suffer from preventable lead exposure," the letter reads in part.

The Flint Registry was created and funded by Congress in 2016 in the wake of the city's water crisis. The Flint Registry is a community-based effort to identify individuals exposed to lead during the Flint water crisis and improve their health and development through connections to health care and other resources. In FY 2021, because of Congressman Kildee's advocacy, the Flint Registry received $4.5 million in federal funding, $500,000 more than the previous year.

Below is the full text of the letter:

Director Young and Dr. Walensky:

As President Biden and his administration develop the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) budget request, we ask that you include $5 million for the Flint Lead Exposure Registry (Flint Registry).

The Flint Registry was created and funded by Congress in 2016 to respond to the Flint water crisis and connect families to the services they need to minimize the impact of lead on their health. As a CDC-designated public health authority, the Flint Registry is a community-based effort to identify individuals exposed to lead during the Flint water crisis and improve their health and development through connections to critical health care and other resources. The Flint Registry provides a framework for evidence-based interventions to help any community respond to lead exposure. The Flint Registry has provided help to Flint and other communities, including Benton Harbor, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey.

The consequences of lead exposure are serious and long-lasting, especially for children. Health experts warn that there is no safe level of exposure to lead and that it can have lifelong impacts on health, including behavioral, endocrine and cardiovascular conditions, as well as learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental deficits.

To date, the Flint Registry has voluntarily enrolled over 18,000 people and completed over 24,700 referrals. Referrals have been made to critical lead exposure-mitigating services like health care, nutrition, early education, lead elimination and more. These resources are especially important considering the disruptions caused by the coronavirus. As a built public health infrastructure asset, the Flint Registry has continued to serve the people of Flint during the pandemic and continues to serve as recovery model for impacted communities across the country. As intended, the Flint Registry is beginning to objectively share how Flint is doing and identify and meet unmet needs.

In the CDC's FY 2021 Congressional Budget Justification, the CDC described the Flint Registry as an "innovative, one-of-a kind Lead Exposure Registry, creating the model for the nation's first lead-free city." We are grateful that CDC included $4.5 million in its proposed FY 2022 budget. However, for FY 2022, both the House and the Senate's appropriations bills included $5 million for the Flint Registry. A $5 million funding level for FY2023 will ensure the Flint Registry can expand its existing programming and continue supporting the Flint community's recovery from the water crisis.

The Flint Registry is a powerful tool to improve the lives of those exposed to lead-contaminated water. Flint's water crisis is not an anomaly, it is a warning to other communities that we must get more serious about removing lead from our communities. The Flint Registry is an important public health program for Flint and for communities everywhere that continue to disparately suffer from preventable lead exposure.

Sincerely,

Rep. Daniel T. Kildee (MI-05)

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI)

Rep. John Moolenaar (MI-04)

Rep. Andy Levin (MI-09)

Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-02)

Rep. Brenda Lawrence (MI-14)

Rep. Tim Walberg (MI-07)

Rep. Peter Meijer (MI-03)

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08)

Rep. Jack Bergman (MI-01)

Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11)

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)

Rep. Lisa McClain (MI-10)

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