Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. Hou

Several dealing with child safety. Lawmakers will also debate and ans Department Issues funding for historically black olleges and universities, tribally controlled colleges and other Higher Education institutions that serve minorities. Any votes requested will be held at 6 30 eastern. Expected to lso vote on starting negotiations with the senate over defense and policy rograms over the next year including troop numbers, pay increases and programs. Live house coverage here on cspan. The chair will postponefurther proceedingses on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or votes object jeggetted under clause 6 of rule 20. The house will resume proceedings on postponed questions at a later time. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition . Ms. Schakowsky mr. Speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h. R. 2211 the speaker pro tempore the clerk will report does the gentlewoman from illinois wish to call the bill as amended . Ms. Schakowsky yes. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk Union Calendar number 166, h. R. 2211, a bill to require the Consumer Products Safety Commission to promulgate a safety rule for Free Standing clothing Storage Units to protect children from tipover related death or injury and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. Schakowsky and mr. Long, each will control 20 minutes. Ms. Schakowsky i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on h. R. 2211. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Schakowsky thank you. Mr. Speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized. Ms. Schakowsky thank you. I rise today as a very proud and grateful person who has been a consumer advocate all my life. And today, congressman long, you and i, will be dealing with bills that may not always get the top headlines, but they save lives. And when i say grateful, im so grateful to our Ranking Member, congresswoman rodgers and all of the bipartisan support we have had on these bills. It means so much to me. I rise in strong support of h. R. 2211, the stop tipovers of unstable risky dressers on youth act which is known as the sturdy act. I introduced this legislation with representative mcnerney, representative soto and bobby rush. This legislation advanced out of the energy and Commerce Committee on july 17, 2019 by voice vote, meaning unanimously bipartisanly. According to date al collected by the Consumer Protection safety agencies, a child is injured every 17 minutes and very 10 days a child dice from one of these tipovers, particularly deadly are tipovers of Clothing Store units such as dressers. Since 2000, these units have killed more than 200 children in the United States. Victims tend to be under the age of six. At this age, children are mobile and curious. They like to climb on furniture, play in the drawers or stand in the drawers and reach for items on top of units. Tragedy can come in just minutes. Just after a child awakes from a nap or a night sleep, they are likely to engage in this kind of activity. Tens of millions of dressers have been recalled in recent years and unfortunately, children continue to die from furniture tipovers. Thats because the current standards are simply too weak. It does not cover shorter clothing Storage Units that have also been known to kill children and industry tests dont cover common hazard patterns. The standard is only voluntary. Thats why it is critical that we pass the sturdy act, which would require the Consumer Safety Product Commission to promulgate a strong and mandatory safety standard that is effective at preventing furniture tipovers. I want to especially thank a number of these bills, the victims, the families, the people who have come with pictures of their children or loved ones to talk about how important this bill is, how hard it is for them to talk about the terrible loss of life in their family until it is those people that have really told the story of how important it is for us to act today. So i appreciate the willingness, as i said before, of our Ranking Member and all the republicans to work with me to bring this bill to the floor. I call on all my colleagues to support this measure and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from illinois reserves. The gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Long i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Long unfortunately, i have personal knowledge of this type of a situation just within the last 30 days. A friend of mine lost a threeyearold, a grandchild, due to one of these situations and there can be nothing worse than losing a child and to have a vibrant threeyearold child one minute and a deceased threeyearold the next is not acceptable. This bill directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a safety standard for clothing Storage Units to prevent from tipping over on to children. In the spirit of bipartisanship, we support this bill moving forward with the house passed today and i would like to thank my friend, ms. Schakowsky for her efforts in this endeavor. I urge my colleagues to support h. R. 2211. And i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from illinois is recognized. Ms. Schakowsky im happy now to yield to mr. Mcnerney, for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Mcnerney i thank the chair. And i thank the chairwoman for her work on this and thank billy long for his support and encouragement. I rise in support of the sturdy act. Scummers purchase a piece of furniture, they trust the product is safe. Out of 42 common household undergoing rigorous testing, only 20 met the standards. The reason why is that current voluntary standards are inadequate. The voluntary standards apply only to dressers that are 30 inches or taller despite many injuries involving shorter dressers. And industry standards require the dresser to remain upright when a 50pound weight is hung from the top drawer although 60 pounds is the accurate weight of a sixyearold. Since 2000, 200 deaths, most victims are under the age of six. Mr. Speaker, the most profound responsibility we have as adults is to protect our children. In 2016, a twoyearold died when a dresser tipped over on to him. We know the problem, lax industry standards that only protect the manufacturers and not their customers. We have a solution. The sturdy act, which establishes robust standards to stop tipovers. The sturdy act will modernize standards to apply to dressers under 30 inches and accurately assimilate the weight of a sixyearold and account for real world dynamics such as the movement of drawers. By setting mandatory standards, the sturdy act will enable to enforce requirements and facilitate recalls. And if this legislation will expedite the rulemaking process ensuring that life saving protections are in our homes as soon as possible. Thats the robust action we need to end this tipover epidemic and im proud to be an orange cosponsor and i urge my colleagues to support this bill. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlewoman from illinois reserves. The gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Long i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized. Ms. Schakowsky let me extend my concxds con doll olenses to your friend, mr. Long, so you know today are carrying this bill on the floor of the house of representatives and hopefully none of us see such an accident again. I intend to insert three letters for the record, a letter from 20 National Organizations and more than 50 state and local organizations representing pediatricians and consumers throughout the United States, including the American Academy of pediatrics, Consumer Federation of america, consumers reports, kids in danger, among many others urging strong sturdy by members of the act. Supporters of the sturdy act. Letter from parents against tipovers, these are parents of actual children that have died, also urging strong support by members of the sturdy act. A letter from Consumer Reports also urging strong support by our colleagues for the sturdy act. D i actually lets see im reserving the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from illinois reserves. The gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Long im prepared to close. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Long i just want to encourage our colleagues to vote for h. R. 2211 and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from illinois is ecognized. Ms. Schakowsky im prepared to close as well. And i just want to urge all of my colleagues to support h. R. 2211. And with that, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from illinois yields back the balance of her time. The question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h. R. 2211 as amended. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, 2 3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid n the table. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition . Ms. Schakowsky mr. Speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h. R. 1618 as amended. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk h. R. 1618, a bill to encourage states to require the installation of residential Carbon Monoxide detectors in homes and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. Schakowsky and the gentleman from missouri, mr. Long, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois. Ms. Schakowsky i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous aterials on h. R. 1618. And i now the speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Schakowsky i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized. Ms. Schakowsky i rise in support of h. R. 1618 the carbons and zachary burt monoxide prevention act of 2019. This important Bipartisan Legislation was introduced by representative kuster and representative carter. This bill advanced out of the energy and Commerce Committee on ly 17, 2019 by voice vote, unanimous. Carbon monoxide, colorless, odorless, tasteless, is a silent killer. More than 400 people die and approximately 50,000 people visit Emergency Rooms every year in the United States from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. The tragedy is that these deaths and injuries are preventable. All thats needed is the installation of Carbon Monoxide detectors. However, many people remain unaware of the importance of Carbon Monoxide detectors or dont know how to install or maintain them properly. His legislation aims this legislation aims to change that. It will educate consumers on the proper use of Carbon Monoxide detect yrs and provide states with grants so states can purchase and install carbon monooption monoxide detectors in the homes of elterly and lowincome citizens as well as in educational facilities. I call on all my colleagues to support this commonsense measure and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from missouri is recognize. Mr. Long i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Long unfortunately, once again, i can relate to what this bill is trying to address. I was an auctioneer for over 30 years before i came to this body and there was a College Professor that attended hundreds of my auctions over the years, quite a toy collector. He also a professor at the State University in my hometown of springfield. Very tragically, within the last couple of years, he and his wife both succumbed to Carbon Monoxide poisoning. It is a silent killer. It can happen anywhere. Theres no warning or anything we can do to augment a solution here would be very, very good. H. R. 1618 directs the Consumer Products Safety Commission to establish a Grant Program for states to purchase and install Carbon Monoxide alarms in dwelling units of lowincome families for the elderly, facilities that commonly serve children or the elderly, including child care facilities, Public Schools and Senior Centers or developing units owned by public universities and to assist in enforcement and education efforts relating to Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide poisoning can happen anywhere in the United States regardless of location. Its an issue thats much more frequent than many realize. According to the c. D. C. , 50,000 people a career in the United States experience Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Of those at least 430 people from accidental Carbon Monoxide poisoning. These grants will go a long way in carrying out Carbon Monoxide poisoning prevention actions as they can be used for everything from installing alarms in the units of elderly individuals to training officials in the installation of such alarms. Im pleased to support passage of this bill today and it will improve safety and provide the tool that tools and resources needed to combat this issue. I urge my colleagues to support h. R. 1618 and reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from illinois is recognized. Ms. Schakowsky i am so pleased to right now to congresswoman kuster who is the chief sponsor of this legislation, for three minutes. The speaker pro tempore the jerusalem from New Hampshire is recognized for three minutes. Ms. Kuster thank you, representative schakowsky. I want to say to representative lock, im so sorry for your loss , and its appropriate to be with you thope floor today. More than 30 years ago today, charles and sheryl byrd experienced unimaginable tragedy when their two sons died as a result of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Their was 4 years old, other son nicholas was four years old and the cupped and their oler son barely made it out alive. The zachary and Nicholas Byrd Carbon Monoxide poisoning prevention act is named in honor of zachary and nicholas but its for the over 400 americans who die each year and more than 20,000 who are hospitalized as a result of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Among them are two of my constituents, john and april considerate nee from lyman, New Hampshire who lost their lives to Carbon Monoxide poisoning just last february of this year. While it happens most frequently in cold winter months, Carbon Monoxide poisoning actually happens throughout the country. As a mother and an aunt i know theres nothing more important than keeping our children and our loved ones safe. Thats why im so proud today to sponsor that the house is preparing to vote on my Bipartisan Legislation with my colleague buddy carter which preventing ding for car monomonoxide relating deaths by educating the public and the importance of properly installing alarms in homes. It also supports the installation of car monomonoxide detectors in housing for elderly and lowincome families and in schools. This will truly save lives. I want to thank my distinguished colleague, buddy carter, for working on this bill with me an helping to build a consensus for its unanimous passage in the energy and Commerce Committee. I want to thank chairman pallone and congresswoman schakowsky for making this piece of legislation a priority and including it in the package of bills today. At a time when congress so often seems divided, this legislation is Proof Positive that we can Work Together on our committee to find Common Ground and get things done to help our constituents. Finally id like to recognize nd thank anna yoo and anna chase from the Committee Staff for collaborating with my team, will and travis, to move this legislation forward. Im proud that this bill is supported by a <