[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 144 (Thursday, October 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11041-S11042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ABRAHAM.
  S. 1312. A bill to save lives and prevent injuries to children in 
motor vehicles through an improved national, State, and local child 
protection program; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation.


                   the child passenger protection act

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce legislation 
designed to increase the awareness and education of parents and public 
safety professionals with respect to the proper use and installation of 
child safety seats.
  This legislation, the Child Passenger Protection Act of 1997, is 
nearly identical to legislation introduced in the other Chamber earlier 
this year by the gentlewoman from Maryland, Representative Morella. It 
would make $7.5 million [i.e., seven point five million] dollars 
available to the Secretary of Transportation in each of the next two 
fiscal years--FY'98 and '99--for the purpose of assisting State highway 
agencies, police departments, and child passenger safety organizations 
in setting up and promoting such programs.
  To receive funding under this bill, a program must focus on 
preventing death and injury to children under the age of 5 years old. 
The program must educate the public about all aspects of the proper 
installation of child restraints using seat belt hardware and other 
supplemental hardware or modification devices. The program must also 
educate the public with respect to the appropriate child restraint 
design selection and placement as well as harness threading and harness 
adjustment. Finally, the program must train and retrain child passenger 
safety professionals, police officers, fire and emergency medical 
personnel, and other educators concerning all aspects of child 
restraint use.
  As the parents of three children under the age of 5, all of whom 
still ride in child car safety seats, my wife and I can attest to the 
fact that these considerations require a great deal of attention. My 
wife Jane serves as Honorary Chairperson of the Detroit SAFE KIDS 
Coalition and has been deeply involved in the issue of car seat safety 
for some time, along with a number of other child protection advocacy 
issues. This past Labor Day, I was the sponsor of a Senate resolution 
that provided permission to the National SAFE KIDS Coalition to use the 
Capitol Building grounds for the kickoff event of the National SAFE 
KIDS Buckle Up Campaign. The entire Abraham family participated in this 
event. Our family has filmed Public Service Announcements on this issue 
for the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and we are planning to sponsor and 
to participate in car seat safety check events in the coming months 
back in Michigan.
  Based on our shared experience, I can assure my colleagues that there 
is often tremendous confusion among both parents and public safety 
personnel when it comes to the proper selection, installation and use 
of child restraint devices in motor vehicles. Results from regional 
child restraint clinics demonstrated between 70 and 90 percent of child 
restraints are incorrectly installed or otherwise misused, which is 
often caused by the complication and wide variety in seat belt and 
child restraint designs. And while there are several public-private 
partnership programs which exist that focus on the dangers of air bags 
and the proper placement of children in cars equipped with air bags, 
many of these programs fall short of specifically educating parents and 
public safety officials on the proper methods for installing and using 
child safety seats.
  It is my hope that we can focus the country's attention on this 
serious problem and, in the process, prevent needless death and injury 
among young children. While this legislation alone will by no means 
solve the problem, I believe it is a positive step towards better 
educating parents and public safety officials on this important public 
safety issue.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1312

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Child Passenger Protection 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The annual losses in the United States from motor 
     vehicle collisions are estimated to exceed 800 deaths and 
     80,000 injuries to children under the age of 5.
       (2) It is estimated that properly used child restraints in 
     motor vehicles can reduce the chance of serious or fatal 
     injury in a motor vehicle collision--
       (A) by a factor of 69 percent with respect to infants; and
       (B) by a factor of 47 percent with respect to children 
     under the age of 5.
       (3) Some of the most common seating position designs that 
     have emerged in motor vehicles during the last decade make 
     secure installation of child restraints difficult and, in 
     some circumstances, impossible.
       (4) Results from regional child restraint clinics 
     demonstrated that 70 to 90 percent of child restraints are 
     improperly installed or otherwise misused and the improper 
     installation or other misuse is largely attributable to the 
     complication and wide variations in seat belt and child 
     restraint designs.
       (5) There is an immediate need to expand the availability 
     of national, State, and local child restraint education 
     programs and supporting resources and materials to assist 
     agencies and associated organizations in carrying out 
     effective public education concerning child restraints.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Child restraint education program.--The term ``child 
     restraint education program'' includes a publication, 
     audiovisual presentation, demonstration, or computerized 
     child restraint education program.
       (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Transportation.
       (3) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
     United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
     Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
     Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory 
     or possession of the United States.

     SEC. 4. CHILD PASSENGER EDUCATION.

       (a) Awards.--The Secretary may enter into contracts or 
     cooperative agreements

[[Page S11042]]

     with, and may make grants to, State highway agencies and 
     child passenger safety organizations that are recognized for 
     their experience to obtain and distribute national, State, 
     and local child restraint education programs and supporting 
     educational materials.
       (b) Use of Funds.--Funds provided to an agency or 
     organization under a contract, cooperative agreement, or 
     grant under subsection (a) shall be used to implement child 
     restraint programs that--
       (1) are designed to prevent deaths and injuries to children 
     under the age of 5; and
       (2) educate the public concerning--
       (A) all aspects of the proper installation of child 
     restraints using standard seatbelt hardware, supplemental 
     hardware and modification devices (if needed), including 
     special installation techniques; and
       (B) appropriate child restraint design selection and 
     placement and in harness threading and harness adjustment; 
     and
       (3) train and retrain child passenger safety professionals, 
     police officers, fire and emergency medical personnel, and 
     other educators concerning all aspects of child restraint 
     use.
       (c) Distribution of Funds.--An agency or organization that 
     receives funds made available to the agency or organization 
     under a contract, cooperative agreement, or grant under 
     subsection (a) shall, in carrying out subsection (b)--
       (1) use not more than 25 percent of those funds to support 
     nationwide child restraint education programs that are in 
     operation at the time that the funds are made available;
       (2) use not more than 25 percent of those funds to support 
     State child restraint education programs that are in 
     operation at the time that the funds are made available; and
       (3) use at least 50 percent of those funds to implement 
     national, State, and local child restraint education programs 
     that are not in operation at the time that the funds are made 
     available.

     SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS AND REPORTS.

       (a) Applications.--To enter into a contract, cooperative 
     agreement, or grant agreement under section 4(a), the 
     appropriate official of an agency or organization described 
     in that section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
     at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 
     information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
       (b) Reports.--
       (1) In general.--The appropriate official of each agency or 
     organization that enters into a contract, cooperative 
     agreement, or grant agreement under section 4(a) shall 
     prepare and submit to the Secretary, an annual report for the 
     period covered by the contract, cooperative agreement, or 
     grant agreement.
       (2) Reports.--A report described in paragraph (1) shall--
       (A) contain such information as the Secretary may require; 
     and
       (B) at a minimum, describe the program activities 
     undertaken with the funds made available under the contract, 
     cooperative agreement, or grant agreement, including--
       (i) any child restraint education program that has been 
     developed directly or indirectly by the agency or 
     organization and the target population of that program;
       (ii) support materials for such a program that have been 
     obtained by that agency or organization and the method by 
     which the agency or organization distributed those materials; 
     and
       (iii) any initiatives undertaken by the agency or 
     organization to develop public-private partnerships to secure 
     non-Federal support for the development and distribution of 
     child restraint education programs and materials.

     SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

       Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare, 
     and submit to Congress, a report on the implementation of 
     this Act that includes a description of the programs 
     undertaken and materials developed and distributed by the 
     agencies and organizations that receive funds under section 
     4(a).

     SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       For the purpose of carrying out section 4, there are 
     authorized to be appropriated to the Department of 
     Transportation $7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 1998 and 
     1999, of which not more than $350,000 may be spent in any 
     fiscal year for administrative costs.

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