[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H4484-H4485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          ARSON AWARENESS WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Weldon] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call 
attention to this week and the importance nationally in focusing on the 
problem of arson.
  Earlier today, Mr. Speaker, in cooperation with our Oklahoma 
colleagues, I joined in support of a resolution condemning the action 
in Oklahoma City and on focusing on the need to further highlight this 
country's preparedness and ability to deal with explosions and 
disasters and especially those caused by terrorism.
  Mr. Speaker, on May 1 through May 8 is Arson Awareness Week 
nationwide, and this week is a time each year that we take out to focus 
on one particular type of tragedy that occurs on a recurring basis 
throughout the year.
  Unfortunately, in this country we tend to only focus on problems of 
disasters, when a major disaster occurs, such as the World Trade Center 
bombing, and most recently the Oklahoma City bombing.
  But, Mr. Speaker, arson fires and arson deaths occur every day of the 
year in this country and are becoming a major problem in terms of both 
loss of life and property. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, arson 
annually causes about $2 billion worth of property loss, and that does 
not include the amount of extraordinary damage caused by the emotional 
effects, indirect losses, indirect financial situations, medical and 
legal costs, lost wages, business interruption, fire fighting and law 
enforcement efforts which together exceed the direct losses twofold. 
So, Mr. Speaker, we are talking about arson presenting a problem to our 
country and our people that exceeds the $2 billion a year with indirect 
costs approaching $4 billion a year.
  Arson fires account for only 15 percent of building fires in this 
country but account for more than 30 percent of total dollar loss. In 
fact, in a more troubling statistic, Mr. Speaker, arson fires account 
for more than 700 lives lost each year, 700 lives lost from fires 
directly caused by arson deliberately set either to cover up a crime, 
to have some profit motive, to gain money from the insurance company, 
or some other profit ring that would allow those to gain from the crime 
of arson.
  Arson has disrupted educational and manufacturing systems with the 
destruction of irreplaceable buildings and artifacts. In addition, it 
has rendered natural resources useless for long periods of time or 
completely destroyed.
  Mr. Speaker, there is some good news. The insurance industry is 
beginning to crack down on arson as never before. One way they are 
doing this is by reporting information on suspicious fires to the 
property insurance loss register, a national data base which police, 
law enforcement and fire officials use to investigate fires and 
prosecute arsonists. More and more insurance companies are extending 
their investigative and their deliberative actions to prosecute 
arsonists well beyond what was done in the previous decades.
  Many insurance companies are also giving more intensive arson 
detection and training to their property claim adjusters. In addition, 
company underwriters, the people who decide whether to offer insurance 
to individuals and businesses, also receive training in recognizing 
information that could warn that an insurance applicant represents a 
big arson risk.
  On May 19, 1994, almost 1 year ago, President Clinton signed a law, 
the Arson Prevention Act. Mr. Speaker, 
[[Page H4485]] this legislation was worked on by colleagues from both 
sides of the aisle, led by our good friend, the gentleman from Virginia 
[Mr. Boucher]. This legislation does several things to increase 
awareness of the problem of arson, including increasing the ability of 
fire departments to identify suspicious and incendiary fires resulting 
in increased and more effective prosecution of arson cases.
  The legislation awards 2-year competition merit-based grants to as 
many as 10 States for arson research, prevention, and control. The 
authorization for fiscal year 1994 was almost $5 million, and for 
fiscal year 1995 $6.25 million.
  The legislation also improves arson investigator training courses, 
leading to professional certification of arson investigators. It also 
provides resources for the formation of arson task forces, especially 
needed in our inner cities where arson for profit has become a major 
problem.
  The legislation also supports and develops programs directed at fraud 
as a cause of arson, juvenile arson, drug and gang related arson, 
domestic violence connected arson, and civil unrest as a cause of 
arson.
  Finally, the bill provides for development of an advanced course on 
arson prevention and expansion of arson investigator training programs 
at the National Fire Academy, the Federal Law Enforcement Training 
Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy.
  The International Association of Arson Investigators was formed in 
1949. It is the most broad-based, well-respected organization in this 
country and the world that focuses on the problem of arson and works to 
train arson investigators. This organization, with over 8,000 members, 
was established to unite for mutual benefit those public officials and 
private persons engaged in the control of arson and kindred crimes.
  In addition, the National Fire Protection Association is currently 
developing a manual for fire investigation that will aid in the process 
of training these investigators.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to those brave men and women who 
day in and day out are fighting this ongoing problem in America, a 
problem that is affecting our economy and that is taking approximately 
700 lives each year. I pay tribute especially to those brave arson 
investigators, those law enforcement personnel who are handling 
situations in all of our cities and counties dealing with the terrible 
tragedy of arson loss in this country.


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