[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E931]]



          INTRODUCTION OF THE FIRE SAFE CIGARETTE ACT OF 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN JOSEPH MOAKLEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 21, 1998

  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker. Today, I am introducing the Fire Safe 
Cigarette Act of 1998, which would direct the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission to promulgate a fire safety standard for cigarettes.
  Each year thousands of innocent people are killed, maimed or 
permanently disfigured by carelessly discarded cigarettes. Under a 
typical cigarette fire scenario, the smoker falls asleep in a bed or 
sofa with a burning cigarette, the ash smolders for hours, then bursts 
into flames in the middle of the night--a time when everyone is least 
prepared.
  Cigarette related fires are not rare or freak occurrences. In 1995, 
1,122 individuals perished and 2,667 individuals were seriously injured 
from these fires. One third of the victims were innocent children. 
Furthermore, cigarette related fires caused more than $500 million in 
property damage in 1995.
  I first became involved with this issue when a family of seven 
perished in a cigarette related fire in my Congressional District. Five 
children--all under the age of ten--were burned to death. This tragedy 
occurred on Memorial Day Weekend in 1979.
  Now, almost twenty years later, I am still fighting to give the CPSC 
that authority to promulgate a fire safety standard for cigarettes. Two 
technical bills, the Cigarette Safety Act and the Fire Safe Cigarette 
Act, have been passed and enacted into law.
  As a result of the legislation, we now know that a cigarette can be 
slightly altered to significantly reduce the number of cigarette 
related fires. The key characteristics of a fire safe cigarette are: a 
filter tip, a smaller diameter, less porous paper, more expandable 
tobacco, and no citrate additive. By simply modifying these 
characteristics, cigarette manufacturers could significantly reduce the 
number of cigarettes related fires each year.
  All the technical work required to develop a fire safety standard is 
completed. The CPSC is ready and willing to do it. We just need to give 
the CPSC the authority to promulgate a fire safety standard and the 
Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1998 does just that.
  After twenty years of work on this issue, I am frustrated that the 
victims of cigarette related fires continue to be the innocent. Too 
often the victim is the child asleep in the upstairs bedroom, or the 
elderly neighbor in the apartment next door. Study after study has 
proven that it is technically and economically feasible to develop a 
fire safe cigarette, clearly Congress needs to weigh in and require 
cigarette manufacturers to develop fire safe cigarettes. No more 
children should fall victim to cigarette related fires that are 
preventable.
  Let's pass the Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1998 and save thousands of 
innocent children and elderly individuals from perishing in cigarette 
related fires.

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