[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10040-S10042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 3059

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it now be in 
order for the Senate to immediately turn to the consideration of S. 
3059, and that only relevant amendments to the bill be in order.
  Mr. STEVENS. I object.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, the reason I am objecting to taking up the 
Department of Transportation appropriations report is that it contains 
a substantive amendment to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The 
legislation was never approved by either House or Senate commerce 
committees and failed in its attempts to correct indisputable faults 
with safety data collection and retention practices of the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
  Well over 100 Americans have died, and estimates are that as many as 
150 in other countries. This is a very serious safety issue in which 
American lives are at stake.
  I am simply asking to take up this legislation. I will be glad to 
have any amendments and time agreements associated with it--anything 
that we can do to move this legislation along.
  The House Commerce Committee yesterday passed similar legislation. We 
are told it will be passed on the floor of the House by next Tuesday.
  Why we can't take up this bill, which is designed according to 
consumer organizations, according to the Secretary of Transportation, 
according to all outside observers and safety experts, to stop or at 
least take action to reduce the number of American lives that will be 
lost on the highways of the United States of America is really hard to 
understand.
  Let me do the best I can to explain it.
  What is happening here is the ``fix is in.'' Here is the fix. The 
House will pass a bill. The Commerce Committee passed a bill, and the 
House will pass that bill this week.
  We have a series of holds on this legislation which passed the 
Commerce Committee by a vote of 20-0 in a bipartisan fashion after 
getting testimony from experts from all over America, from the 
Secretary of Transportation, from the Acting Director of the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and others. That bill is now on 
the calendar. There are holds on the bill.
  Here is the fix. The House will pass the bill. The Senate will refuse 
to take up the bill because of holds, and we will then pass--no matter 
how hard I try to prevent it--the Department of Transportation 
appropriations safety report that contains simply language concerning 
what can be done about this issue.
  I have taken the floor on many, many occasions to talk about the 
influence of special interests in Washington. The automotive industry 
is now blocking this legislation. The word is on the street. The 
``fix'' is in that the bill will not pass the Senate, or pass the House 
so House Members can say we did what we needed to do.
  You know what we are talking about here. We are talking about the 
lives of American citizens who are in danger as we speak. The special 
interests will now prevail over safety interests, where lives of 
Americans are literally at stake. Remarkable. Remarkable commentary. 
Remarkable.

  I have a letter and I ask unanimous consent to have it printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                                  October 5, 2000.
     Hon. John McCain,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Ernest Hollings,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator McCain and Senator Hollings: We are writing in 
     support of your decision to halt the FY 2001 Department of 
     Transportation appropriations bill pending Senate action on 
     the Ford/Firestone amendments to the Motor Vehicle Safety 
     Act. While we recognize that there are compelling reasons to 
     support the appropriations bill--such as the new rule 
     mandating that drunken driving blood alcohol levels be 
     lowered to .08% nationwide--we feel it is imperative that 
     Congress react with legislation to the Ford/Firestone tragedy 
     before the close of this session.
           Signed,
         Bob and Laura Bishop, Bartlesville, OK; Geoffrey Coffin, 
           Shelton, CT; Janette Fennell, San Francisco, CA; Vickie 
           and Joe Hendricks, Corpus Christi, TX; Spence Hegener, 
           Baylor University, Waco, TX; Pam Hegener, Lake Charles, 
           LA; Juanita Sawyer, Tahlequah, OK; Robert C. Sanders, 
           Upper Marlboro, MD; Spencer and Elizabeth Taintor, 
           Miami, Florida; Sondra Runfeldt, West Palm Beach, FL; 
           B.J. Kincade, Catoosa, OK; Shannon Johnson--Query, 
           Jacksonville, FL.

  Mr. McCAIN. It reads:

       Dear Senator McCain and Senator Hollings: We are writing in 
     support of your decision to halt the FY 2001 Department of 
     Transportation Appropriations bill pending Senate action on 
     the Ford/Firestone amendments to the Motor Vehicle Safety 
     Act. While we recognize that there are compelling reasons to 
     support the appropriations bill--such as the new rule 
     mandating that drunken driving blood alcohol levels be 
     lowered to .08% nationwide--we feel it is imperative that 
     Congress react with legislation to the Ford/Firestone tragedy 
     before the close of this session.

  Mr. President, this is signed by the relatives of people who have 
been killed in accidents because of the Bridgestone/Firestone problem. 
Can't we listen to the family members of those who have been killed on 
the highways of America with a fixable problem, at least action that 
has been recommended unanimously that must be taken to prevent further 
tragedies on America's highways?
  This is egregious. I don't think many American citizens would approve 
of the Senate blocking legislation which is designed to save lives.
  There may be a couple of controversial aspects of this bill, although 
it passed out of the Commerce Committee unanimously. There may be a 
couple of controversial aspects of this bill. Fine, let's have 
amendments and time agreements. We can dispose of those controversial 
aspects of it in a matter of a few hours. I eagerly welcome such a 
thing. The Senator from Alaska has just objected to us taking up this 
legislation which we could dispose of in a few hours. The lives of 
American citizens are at stake here.
  Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. McCAIN. I will not.
  Mr. STEVENS. For one moment for clarification on that.
  Mr. McCAIN. The Senator from Alaska has just objected to us moving 
forward with legislation which, in the view of any outside expert, has 
to do with American lives that are endangered on the highways of 
America due to a flaw in the Bridgestone/Firestone situation and/or 
Ford automobiles.
  This is serious business. This is serious business. There has been a 
series of holds put on this bill. We now object to taking up this 
legislation in favor of an appropriations bill which has watered down 
language which is intended--at least in the view of some--to address 
part of the problem. It does not. Ask any safety expert. It does not.
  As to the language that has been inserted in the conference bill, I 
guess we can all thank the advocates of safety for the provision that 
was in the bill that prevented the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration from addressing rollover accidents for a year until a 
National Academy of Sciences study was completed--again, the special 
interests.
  I intend to do whatever I can to see this legislation is brought up 
before the Senate. I hope those Senators who have a hold on this bill 
will step forward and identify themselves. This isn't an ordinary piece 
of legislation. This is a piece of legislation that has to do with the 
lives of American citizens and those overseas. I don't know of a more 
compelling problem.
  Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the Department of 
Transportation appropriations report that contains a substantive 
amendment to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act. This legislation was 
never approved by either the House or Senate Commerce committees and it 
fails in its attempt to correct indisputable flaws with the safety-
related data collection and retention practices of the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration.
  The language contained in the appropriations report falls short of 
the mark

[[Page S10041]]

for many reasons, but for now, I will list only the key shortcomings. 
First, it fails to require manufacturers to collect and report 
essential safety-related information that would allow the Secretary to 
identify potential consumer-safety issues. Second, it fails to increase 
penalties for violations of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act. And 
third, the language does not require NHTSA to upgrade the 30-year-old 
federal tire-safety standard.
  Prompted by an August 9, 2000, announcement by Ford Motor Company and 
Bridgestone/Firestone to recall millions of potentially defective 
tires, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation 
held a September 12th hearing that was attended by the Secretary of 
Transportation, NHTSA's Acting Administrator, the parties involved in 
the recall, and several consumer groups. All who testified agreed that 
systemic changes were needed to make the processes of sharing safety-
related information more efficient. In response, on September 15th, 
joined by my colleagues, Senators Gorton and Specter, I introduced S. 
3059, the ``Motor Vehicle and Motor Vehicle Equipment Defect 
Notification Improvement Act.'' This bill would dramatically amend the 
current law by ensuring NHTSA's possession of critical information 
regarding motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment that would enable 
it to make sound safety-related decisions.
  Following the introduction of S. 3059, the House Commerce Committee 
began consideration of H.R. 5164, the ``Transportation Recall 
Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act,'' also referred to 
as ``T.R.E.A.D.'' While the House's bill does not appear to be entirely 
adequate to correct the current law, it does seek to accomplish similar 
objectives as S. 3059. Therefore, I was encouraged by the possibility 
of compromise prior to the conclusion of the 106th Congress. However, 
due to the limited amount of time remaining prior to the adjournment of 
this Congress, the differences of the House bill, and the unapproved 
actions taken by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on 
Transportation, I offer today a narrower version of S. 3059 that I hope 
that my colleagues would support.
  Mr. President, I would like to outline what the new version of the 
bill would do:
  Reporting requirements: The bill would direct the Secretary to 
collect additional safety-related information from manufacturers; 
specifically, it would mandate that the Secretary require manufacturers 
to collect and report new information about defects--
including information about foreign recalls, but only to the extent 
that the information may assist in the identification of potential 
defects related to motor vehicle safety or failures to meet the federal 
motor vehicle safety standards. This information would include 
accidents or incidents, claims data, warranty adjustment data, and 
other safety-related information. The method, manner and extent of the 
collection of this data would be determined through rulemaking by the 
Secretary.

  Civil penalties: This legislation would increase the Motor Vehicle 
Safety chapter's maximum civil penalty from $800,000 to $15,000,000, 
and allow for the assessment of larger civil penalties for intentional 
and willful acts.
  Criminal penalties: The Secretary would be authorized to assess 
criminal penalties for knowingly violating provisions of the Motor 
Vehicle Safety Act, which results in death or grievous bodily harm. 
This provision of the bill has been the subject of much discussion. Let 
me briefly describe what would be required for a manufacturer to be 
subject to criminal penalties under this section. The manufacturer, 
their officers or directors, would have to order, authorize, or ratify 
the introduction of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment into 
interstate commerce while knowing that the motor vehicle or equipment 
violated federal safety standards, that violation created a serious 
danger of an accident that would result in death or serious injury, and 
death or such injury occurs. Let me be clear, the standard required 
under this provision is ``actual knowledge.'' This provision is 
intended to provide the option of criminal penalties only in instances 
of conduct that are so egregious as to render civil penalties 
meaningless.
  The inclusion of a criminal penalties provision has received support 
from the Secretary of Transportation, Jacques Nasser, who is the 
President and CEO of Ford Motor Company, and consumer groups such as 
Public Citizen. This type of penalty is not novel. Multiple agencies 
are authorized to assess criminal penalties, including, among others, 
the Department of Labor, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the 
Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. 
This provision would authorize the Secretary, in conjunction with the 
U.S. Attorney General, to pursue criminal penalties against automobile 
manufacturers in instances where State governments may not have the 
resources to enforce their relevant law.
  Updating safety standards: Finally, this bill would require NHTSA to 
upgrade the tire-safety standard for the first time in 30 years.
  Regardless of whether the House or Senate version of the bill is 
enacted, the need for this legislation was triggered by the possibility 
that Ford and Bridgstone/Firestone may have had knowledge of a safety-
related problem concerning the performance of certain tire models prior 
to the recall, but refrained from reporting even the possibility of a 
defect to NHTSA. Notwithstanding whether or not the manufacturers knew 
of the problem, the situation focused my attention, as well as the 
attention of my colleagues, to flaws that exist in the reporting 
processes between manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle 
equipment, and NHTSA. S. 3059 would amend the Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Act to make it more difficult for manufacturers to knowingly 
conceal safety-related information from the Secretary of Transportation 
and increase the penalties for such unlawful conduct.

  Under current law, manufacturers are not required to report to NHTSA 
either ``claims data,'' which include personal injury or property 
damage claims that can be helpful early-warning indicators of potential 
threats to consumer safety, or overseas actions involving equipment and 
vehicles sold in the United States. Furthermore, should manufacturers 
fail to report safety-related information that is required by the 
Secretary, the maximum civil penalty allowable under the current law is 
a mere $980,000. To put this in perspective, last year Ford Motor 
Company spent $2.57 billion on advertising. Other than minor 
adjustments over the last two years, the maximum civil penalty has not 
been updated since its enactment, which means, at a minimum, if 
adjusted for inflation it should be five times that amount in the year 
2000. Finally, the current law does not allow for the assessment of 
criminal penalties for particularly egregious conduct. The absence of 
criminal penalties coupled with a nominal maximum civil penalty creates 
an environment where meaningful enforcement is impossible commonplace. 
This bill would change that practice.
  Mr. President, thus far, NHTSA has linked more than 100 deaths to the 
failures of Bridgestone/Firestone tires that are subject to the current 
recall. Each day it becomes more apparent that these deaths may have 
been avoided had NHTSA possessed vital safety-related information that 
the law does not currently require manufacturers to report. The 
legislation that I have introduced does not accomplish all of the 
needed reforms, but it is a positive step toward a more efficient 
exchange of safety-related information between the Secretary and 
manufacturers. Nevertheless, S. 3059 is being held up partly due to the 
influence of the automotive industry. The lives of American consumers 
are being placed at risk. We must act quickly to resolve the flaws in 
NHTSA's data-collection processes and prevent the recurrence of this 
crisis.
  I express my deep disappointment that the ``fix'' is in from the 
special interests. This bill will be held and will not be passed by the 
Senate; it will be passed by the House. Guess what. We couldn't do 
anything. I hope the American people are well informed by the media and 
by those family members who have lost loved ones and by the public 
safety advocate who see what is happening here. It is not my proudest 
moment in the Senate.
  I yield the floor.

[[Page S10042]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. I thank the Senator from Arizona for his normal courtesy 
to me as manager of the bill that we are trying to bring up. I did not 
object on my own behalf and he knows that full well. But I do believe 
we all know what the situation is.

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