[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S10523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING ASSISTANCE FOR POISON PREVENTION AND FUNDING OF REGIONAL 
                             POISON CENTERS

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of calendar No. 252, S. 632.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 632) to provide assistance for poison prevention 
     and to stabilize the funding of regional poison control 
     centers.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise to thank my colleague from Ohio for 
his hard work on this very important bill. The work our nation's poison 
control centers do is absolutely essential to the safety and health of 
our children. Not only do poison control centers save lives, they 
significantly reduce our health care costs by helping American families 
deal quickly, safely, and efficiently with a poisoning emergency.
  Mr. DeWINE. The Senator from Missouri is exactly right. It is perhaps 
difficult to imagine just how concerned parents must be when they 
discover that their child has been exposed to a substance that might 
have damaging health effects. They don't know what type of harm might 
happen to their child--or whether any harm will happen. But the 
possibility is there--and to a parent, that threat can truly be 
frightening. In these emergency situations, the poison control center 
experts can quickly help parents determine the appropriate response. 
They might tell the parents that whatever substance that child has been 
exposed to doesn't pose a health threat at all. Other times, that 
threat is real, and the poison control center can help parents 
administer immediate treatment at home or provide treatment advice 
until the parents can get the child to the nearest emergency room. 
Either way, the poison control center is absolutely essential in 
responding to the emergency by providing immediate treatment advice 
when the emergency is real and providing peace of mind for the parents 
and reducing unnecessary healthcare and hospitalization when the 
exposure does not pose a health threat to the child.
  Mr. BOND. Doesn't this bill clarify how the proposed national toll-
free number will affect existing, privately funded toll-free numbers?
  Mr. DeWINE. This bill makes clear that the establishment of a 
national toll-free number to access poison control centers should not 
be interpreted as prohibiting the establishment or continued operation 
of any privately funded nationwide toll-free number used by 
agricultural pesticide companies, consumer products companies, 
pharmaceutical companies, and other groups who fund their own toll-free 
customer service numbers in the event of a poisoning or accidental 
exposure involving one of their own products. We also make clear that 
none of the funds that this bill authorizes may be used to help private 
companies fund their own toll-free numbers. We just want to clarify 
that this bill neither funds nor prohibits private entities from 
funding their own toll-free customer service numbers. I thank my 
colleague for his comments and for his strong support of this bill.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
committee substitute be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the 
third time, and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  The committee amendment was agreed to.
  The bill (S. 632), as amended, was read the third time, and passed, 
as follows:
  [The bill was not available for printing. It will appear in a future 
issue of the Record.]

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