•HRES 1395 IH 
Whereas televisions with cathode ray tubes (CRTs) contain 
between 4 and 15 pounds of lead, a toxic substance 
known to cause brain damage in children; 
Whereas many laptops, flat panel monitors, and televisions 
contain fluorescent lamps that contain mercury, a dan-
gerous neurotoxin; 
Whereas many electronic products contain toxic chemicals 
such as lead, mercury, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, 
and brominated flame retardants; 
Whereas approximately 2,630,000 tons of used or unwanted 
electronics were discarded in the United States in 2005, 
according to the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA); 
Whereas approximately 330,000 tons of electronic waste were 
collected and diverted from landfills for reuse or recycling 
in 2005, according to the EPA; 
Whereas an estimated 50 percent to 80 percent of electronic 
waste collected for reuse or recycling is exported to coun-
tries such as China, India, Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and 
Thailand, according to the Department of Commerce; 
Whereas approximately 131,500 tons of lead-containing 
CRTs were exported, representing 75 percent of the 
CRTs supposedly collected for recycling, according to the 
EPA; 
Whereas Congress has required the Nation’s broadcasters to 
convert from analog to digital broadcasting on February 
17, 2009, a move which will render millions of analog 
CRT televisions obsolete for broadcasting and likely to be 
discarded; 
Whereas exported electronic waste is often crudely scrapped 
and dismantled under conditions that are dangerous for 
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•HRES 1395 IH 
human health and the environment in developing coun-
tries, according to eyewitness reports by the Basel Action 
Network and several media outlets including National 
Geographic Magazine; 
Whereas toxic lead from exported electronic waste has re-
turned to the United States as a public health threat in 
children’s jewelry made in China, according to a study by 
Ashland University, reported by the Wall Street Journal; 
Whereas the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) 
has issued multiple recall notices for jewelry and toys 
made in China for children that contained dangerous lev-
els of lead; 
Whereas 32 nations, including the member States of the Eu-
ropean Union, have banned the export of toxic electronic 
waste to developing countries; 
Whereas several major information technology and consumer 
electronics manufacturers have corporate policies that 
prohibit the export of toxic electronic waste to developing 
nations; 
Whereas the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 
1976, as amended, prohibits the export of hazardous 
waste from the United States to other nations unless the 
EPA obtains prior written permission from the other na-
tion’s competent authority; and 
Whereas the EPA has determined that much electronic waste 
is excluded or exempted from the definitions of ‘‘waste’’ 
and ‘‘hazardous waste’’ under the Resource Conservation 
and Recovery Act of 1976, leading to the largely unre-
stricted export of toxic electronic waste to developing na-
tions: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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•HRES 1395 IH 
(1) expresses its concern over the current Fed-
eral policy that allows the exportation of toxic elec-
tronic waste to developing nations; and 
(2) supports joining other developed nations 
and ban the export of toxic electronic waste to devel-
oping nations. 
Æ 
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