As Nation Battles Historic Temperatures, Senator Markey Secures Committee Passage of His Legislation to Understand and Address Extreme Heat

Washington (July 31, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, today applauded the Committee's bipartisan vote to pass a version of his legislation, the Preventing Health Emergencies And Temperature-related (HEAT) Illness and Deaths Act. The legislation, reintroduced in July 2023, would address the rising health risks of extreme heat by strengthening and expanding interagency efforts to address extreme heat and would provide $20 million in funding for those efforts.

"July 22 of this year marked the hottest day ever recorded worldwide, and more than 2,300 people were killed by extreme heat last year alone," said Senator Markey. "Extreme heat has become a universal experience for communities across the country, and its impacts are impossible to ignore. The Preventing HEAT Illness and Deaths Act would formally authorize the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, strengthen federal collaboration on heat resilience, and create a new program to directly support communities withering from extreme heat. With this legislation, we will be able to monitor, measure, and mitigate extreme heat in communities across the country."

Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) also led the bill in the Senate. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), and Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) led the introduction of companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

In July 2023, Senator Markey introduced the Preventing Health Emergencies And Temperature-related (HEAT) Illness and Deaths Act with Senators Padilla, Sinema, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).

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