[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 10, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H544-H545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FIRESAFE CIGARETTE ACT

  (Mr. MOAKLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, as many of my colleagues know, last Friday 
a huge fire broke out in a high-rise apartment in Baltimore, Maryland. 
Like most fires in the United States, this fire was caused by a 
carelessly disposed of lighted cigarette.
  Mr. Speaker, because of that fire, one woman died and nine people 
were injured, and the most tragic part of that

[[Page H545]]

is that that fire could have been prevented.
  That is right, Mr. Speaker, that fire could have been prevented. Each 
year, cigarette-related fires kill over 1,000 people, and those are not 
just the smokers. We are talking about that little baby in the crib 
upstairs. We are talking about that elderly lady next door or that poor 
fellow downstairs and, yes, Mr. Speaker, even the firemen who go into 
the fire to save those people.
  On March 1, I will introduce the Firesafe Cigarette Act to require 
cigarette companies to make cigarettes less likely to burn people's 
houses down. Mr. Speaker, there are cigarettes on the market that will 
extinguish after 5 minutes and the tobacco companies should use these.

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