Senate Holds Hearings on Health Risks of Cell Phone Use (videos)

The US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health & Human Services began hearings to look more deeply into any potential connections between cell phone use and health problems, such as cancer. Sen Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the chair of the committee, said that he's "reminded of this nation's experience with cigarettes. Decades passed between the first warnings about smoking tobacco and the final definitive conclusion that cigarettes cause lung cancer." Sen Harkin became head of the U.S. Senate Health Committee after the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose fatal brain tumor was speculated to have been a result of his constant use of the cell phone.

Also members of the subcommittee is Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pennssylvania, who initiated the idea for the hearing, and Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas.