Senate Unanimously Passed Bill to Ban Asbestos, Continued Murray, Isakson, and Boxer Integral to Getting Asbestos Bill Passed

"I have been pleased to work closely with Senators Murray and Isakson to move this important bill through the Environment and Public Works Committee [and get it passed]], and now through the Senate. This bill will take asbestos off the shelves, and will also ensure we continue to study and treat the health effects asbestos has already caused." Murray's bill would ban asbestos, invest in research and treatment, and launch a public education campaign. Murray started working to ban asbestos six years ago. This March, she re-introduced her legislation as S. 742, the Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007 (S. 742).

On March 1st, Senator Murray held a hearing in her Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee on the bill. Then on June 12th, the bill got a hearing before the Environment and Public Works Committee, at which Senator Murray testified.

On June 6, Murray discussed the bill's progress at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, where she was joined by doctors, a patient, environmental experts, and advocates. On July 31st, the bill passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee 19-0.