I left Maine today about an hour ahead of the snowstorm, on a flight bound for D.C., with final destination San Diego.  I have been appointed by Speaker Pingree to attend a bio-monitoring forum sponsored jointly by the National Center for Disease Control and the National Caucus of State Legislators.  This focus on chemical policy reform in the States and ultimately the whole nation, is a policy area very important to me in my work as a Maine state legislator.  Maine leads the nation in chemical policy law, and will continue to work with Congress to push the same improvements to national reform.  With over 80,000 chemicals currently in use, we need to ensure that chemicals are safe.  I will be meeting with a group of constituents in Yarmouth next month to discuss chemical policy here in Maine, and invite others to join in on the conversation as we work toward the goal of safer chemicals.