[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 10 (Thursday, January 30, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S851-S852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CPSC CHAIRMAN ANN BROWN BRINGS CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY MESSAGE TO 
                                NEVADANS

  Mr. BRYAN. Mr. President, last month U.S. Consumer Product Safety 
Commission Chairman, Ann Brown, came to Nevada to deliver her vital 
safety messages to my constituents in Las Vegas and Reno. Her timely 
visit, just before the holidays, when many people are preparing their 
homes for visits by friends and relatives, reminded the citizens of my 
State of the practical things they can do to keep their homes safe.
  In Las Vegas, we visited the home of Ms. Lori Black. Lori and her 
husband Mike are the parents of eight children. As we toured their home 
with Lori and her youngest daughter Leslie Mika and oldest daughter 
Ann, Chairman Brown reviewed the CPSC's baby safety checklist and found 
that they had done an excellent job of making their home safe for 
children.
  In Reno, we visited the home of Lisa and Scott Anderson and their 
daughter Lyndsey Sue. There, Chairman Brown was able to point out that 
their baby crib passed the soda can test. She demonstrated that a soda 
can is useful to measure the spaces between the slats in a baby's crib. 
If the soda can cannot go through the slats, then the crib is baby 
safe.
  Chairman Brown also demonstrated the importance of clipping the loop 
at the end of venetian blind cords. She told us in the past 14 years, 
173 children had strangled in the loops of curtain and blind cords, but 
that as a result of a voluntary agreement she secured from the blind 
cord industry, manufacturers are now installing safety tassels at the 
end of their cords. She commended the Andersons for making their home 
safe for a baby by putting all medicines on an upper shelf far from a 
baby's curious hands and having no baby clothes with strings or cords.
  In both Las Vegas and Reno, the homes contained smoke alarms, but 
lacked carbon monoxide detectors. Chairman Brown emphasized to both 
families the necessity of these devices. Every year, about 200 people 
die from carbon monoxide poisoning, and thousands are treated in 
hospital emergency rooms. With the installation of CO detectors and 
annual appliance inspections, these deaths and injuries can be 
prevented.
  I want to commend Chairman Brown for her valuable work promoting 
consumer product safety in Nevada and across the country. The baby 
safety program she initiated is a model of the way business and 
government can work together as partners to advance the public 
interest.
  The Gerber Products Co. underwrote the costs of printing the 
materials for the baby safety program. This has allowed the CPSC to 
make the baby safety checklist and other helpful materials available to 
thousands of people throughout the country.
  The Consumer Product Safety Commission is a small agency with a big 
mission--to keep families safe in their homes and at play. It is also 
one of the taxpaying public's best bargains in government. CPSC's $42.5 
million budget, about 16 cents per capita, helps to attack the $200 
billion in annual societal costs and about $30 billion in direct 
medical costs. Thus, every dollar appropriated to CPSC has the 
potential to address about $5,000 in societal costs and about $600 in 
direct medical costs. As one example, the CPSC's work in making sure 
baby cribs are safe and removing unsafe cribs from the market has 
reduced crib-related deaths from 200 annually to less than 50 deaths 
per year. That one project alone saves society nearly $1 billion a 
year--or almost 25 times the CPSC's current annual budget.
  But the CPSC is most concerned with saving lives and reducing 
injuries and

[[Page S852]]

it is working even now on actions to reduce those crib-related deaths 
to an even lower figure.
  I would like to thank Chairman Brown for bringing her lifesaving 
message to the citizens of Nevada and to commend her for her excellent 
leadership of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. I urge my 
colleagues to share the CPSC's baby safety checklist with the new 
parents and grandparents in their States.
  I ask unanimous consent that the baby safety checklist be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                         Baby Safety Checklist


                                Bedroom

       Put your baby to sleep on her back or side in a crib with a 
     firm, flat mattress and no soft bedding underneath her.
       Make sure your baby's crib is sturdy and has no loose or 
     missing hardware.
       Never place your baby's crib or furniture near window blind 
     or curtain cords.


                                Bathroom

       Keep medicines and cleaning products in containers with 
     safety caps and locked away from children.
       Always check bath water temperature with your wrist or 
     elbow before putting your baby in to bathe.
       Never, ever, leave your child alone in the bathtub or near 
     any water.


                                Kitchen

       Don't leave your baby alone in a highchair; always use all 
     safety straps.
       Use your stove's back burners and keep pot handles turned 
     to the back of the stove.
       Lock household cleaning products, knives, matches, and 
     plastic bags away from children.


                              Living Areas

       Install smoke detectors on each floor of your home, 
     especially near sleeping areas; change the batteries each 
     year.
       Use safety gates to block stairways and safety plugs to 
     cover electrical outlets.
       Keep all small objects, including tiny toys and balloons, 
     away from young children.

  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Santorum). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Abraham). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. Good to see the Senator presiding this afternoon. Shall we 
begin the closing process, now, Mr. President? Would that be all right?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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