Maine moms in Washington D.C.

To the editor:
    Recently I was lucky enough to be one of 25 incredible women to hop on a bus from Maine to Washington D.C. (the Stroller Brigade) to attend a rally for chemical safety reform and meetings with my U.S. Senators and Representatives to ask them to support the Safe Chemicals Act.
    There were many reasons I chose to attend; first and foremost, I’m a mom of three adult sons, Tyler, Corey and Kyle. My youngest, Kyle, is almost 20, and has multiple disabilities including severe autism. I don’t know what caused Kyle’s autism, but I do know that Kyle will always need one-on-one care, and will never drive a car, date, or go to college like other young men his age.
    I also traveled to Washington because of my work with Maine Parent Federation, where I see first-hand the increase of autism in my community. One in 88 American children, and 1 in 54 boys, have autism — and the number is higher in Maine. With increasing evidence of environmental links to autism, we need the Safe Chemicals Act so that we can access safety information about chemicals exposed to us.
    My meetings with Sens. Collins and Snowe left me feeling hopeful. I am grateful to both Senators for acknowledging that our current chemical safety system is broken. Sen. Snowe spent 50 minutes with our group showing that she was genuinely supportive of chemical safety reform and that a bipartisan solution could be possible. Now we need both Senators to stand up and lead the way to this badly needed reform.
    I would like to extend a warm thank you to both Sens. Collins and Snowe, as well as the staff of Reps. Michaud and Pingree for taking time out of their busy schedules to meet with us. And also would like to thank Congresswomen Pingree, for the nice reception at her home in D.C.
Robin Levesque
Oakfield