New TV Ad Attacks Trump, GOP Moves to Gut System of Health Safeguards

NRDC, partner groups spotlight disingenuous ‘reform’ effort, spending proposals that will harm Americans

New TV Ad Attacks Trump, GOP Moves to Gut System of Health Safeguards

NRDC, partner groups spotlight disingenuous ‘reform’ effort, spending proposals that will harm Americans

                                                                             

WASHINGTON  – A coalition of environmental and consumer protection groups have launched a week-long 6-figure television ad, warning of serious threats to public health, safety and welfare if a campaign to erode protections by the Trump administration, GOP leaders and industry lobbyists succeeds. 

The ad illustrates key moments during a day in the life of a typical American family—from waking up to going to school and work, to playing sports and eating meals—at which the government protects Americans from harm.  It takes aim at a number of recent measures—from EPA, FDA and other agency budget cut proposals to corporate-rigged regulatory bills and executive orders to eliminate regulations—that would weaken enforcement or strip away health, food safety and other core safeguards.

“Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress are working with corporate lobbyists and special interests who want to undo safeguards and their enforcement,” says the narrator in the TV ad, running on cable and broadcast outlets inside the beltway. “We can’t let Trump and the Republicans put corporate profits ahead of our health and safety…”

The Natural Resources Defense Council teamed up with Public Citizen, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, the Center for Foodborne Illness, and STOP Foodborne Illness to place the issue advocacy ad, entitled “Big Day.”  It illustrates key moments in the daily life of a family—from waking up to going to school and the workplace, to playing sports and eating meals—where the government protects Americans from harm.

“Americans expect their air and water to be clean, and their food to be safe,” said Scott Slesinger, Legislative Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.  “Our aim is to bring attention to moves by the Trump Administration and Congress that would put corporate bad actors—including polluters—ahead of people.  We think constituents should know that there are major efforts afoot to gut protections and enforcement at the public’s expense.”

“The corporate backers of Trump and GOP lawmakers are trying to dismantle our health, safety and environmental protections – safeguards that Americans rely on to protect them from predatory corporations, and which Americans support by overwhelming majorities,” said Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen. “The choice for members of Congress is as simple as whether they side with superrich donors or their constituents.”

“Exposure to asbestos in homes, schools and the workplace still poses a threat of serious illness—or even death—in this country,” said Linda Reinstein, President/CEO and co-founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.  “But Congress is considering regulatory measures that would stack the deck in favor of corporate interests, and against those we’re trying to protect.  We want people to know how hard it could become to keep them safe from asbestos if those measures succeed.”

“Tens of millions of Americans suffer from foodborne disease each year,” said Patricia Buck, Executive Director of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention. “We should be fashioning cutting edge safeguards to provide even greater protection.  Instead, some lawmakers are trying to erode current protections and make it harder to issue food safety rules in the future.”

“Without robust enforcement budgets and strong safeguards, our country can’t properly protect us from salmonella, listeria and a host of other food safety dangers,” said Deirdre Schlunegger, the Chief Executive Officer of STOP Foodborne Illness.  “Yet it is basic for Americans to expect that the food we eat each day will not poison or kill us.”

*The text of the “Big Day” TV ad follows:

 

Every day we trust that our families and kids will be safe.

Safe in their beds…

And in the car on the way to school.

That our homes and workplaces will be safe.

And that when our kids play, the air they breathe

And the water they drink will be clean.

We trust their grandparents will have a safe flight when they come to visit.

And that our food will be safe to eat.

Fair enforcement of common sense safeguards keeps our families safe.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are working with corporate lobbyists to undo these safeguards.

We can’t let Trump and Congressional Republicans put profits ahead of our health and safety.

Because our loved ones should come first.

 

*For a downloadable version of the ad, please click here.

*For a blog by Pete Altman, NRDC’s Director of Federal Campaigns, on recent administration and GOP attacks on public health, please click here.

*For a glimpse at the executive orders and legislative measures that pose a threat to the common-sense safeguards that protect Americans, please click here.

 

 

# # #

 

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

Related Issues
Human Health

Related Press Releases