[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 126 (Wednesday, October 11, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10272-S10274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AMENDING TITLE 49, U.S. CODE, TO REQUIRE REPORTS CONCERNING DEFECTS IN 
                             MOTOR VEHICLES

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the consideration of H.R. 5164, which is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the bill by title.

[[Page S10273]]

  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 5164) to amend title 49, United States Code, 
     to require reports concerning defects in motor vehicles or 
     tires or other motor vehicle equipment in foreign countries, 
     and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. McCAIN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third 
time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and 
that any statements regarding the bill be printed at this point in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, what was the request?
  Mr. McCAIN. That the Senate proceed to H.R. 5164.
  Mr. REID. Is this the same request the Senator entered earlier today?
  Mr. McCAIN. Yes.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, as I said to my friend--and 
he was so persuasive--I indicated that we have to be patient and I 
thought his patience would require more than an hour or so. But as a 
result of our work on this side, we were able to get the agreement 
cleared, and we have no objection to this matter proceeding tonight, as 
indicated in the earlier consent agreement.
  Mr. McCAIN. I thank my friend from Nevada.
  May I just say that one thing I have learned about my friend from 
Nevada is that when he gives his word on an issue, he pursues that in a 
sincere and dedicated fashion. When he gives his word that he is going 
to oppose, as he has on several occasions, he is a formidable opponent. 
I thank the Senator from Nevada for working on this. He could have 
easily held this over until tomorrow and we could have gotten caught 
up, perhaps, in other issues. Instead, the Senator from Nevada said he 
would be working on this issue. He did that, and we have it resolved. I 
express my deep and sincere thanks to him.
  I look forward to next year when we again have our differences on the 
issue of college gambling being ventilated and work together on that 
issue as well.
  Mr. REID. Also, we can work together to do more on boxing. If there 
were ever a requirement that we have spread before us, it would be to 
do something about the abysmal state of boxing in the world, which is 
controlled by the United States.
  Also, the work the Senator from Arizona and the Senator from 
Wisconsin have done on campaign finance reform--when the history books 
are written about what has happened in Government during the past 
hundred years, there is no question in my mind that one of the main 
chapters will be the work that has been done on campaign finance 
reform. It will happen, and it was instigated and initiated by the 
Senator from Arizona and the Senator from Wisconsin. It is only a 
question of when; it will happen.
  Mr. McCAIN. I thank my friend from Nevada.
  I should not be speaking off the top of my head, but perhaps a 
hearing out in the city of Las Vegas, where really 90 percent of the 
major boxing is conducted in America, might be something he and I could 
do together in the next couple of months to get the ball rolling. I 
thank my friend from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. I thank my friend from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, last week I was blocked in my efforts to 
gain unanimous consent for the Senate to schedule a time for 
consideration of S. 3059, the Motor Vehicle and Motor Vehicle Equipment 
Defect Notification Act. As you know, the Act is in response to the 
recent Ford/Firestone recall of 6.5 million tires and the more than 100 
deaths associated with these tires.
  Today, we are in the midst of what may likely be the last week of 
this legislative session. The remaining days to enact legislation to 
remedy indisputable flaws in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act are 
dwindling to a precious few.
  When we began this process more than six weeks ago, I made a 
commitment to seek the enactment of legislation this year to remedy 
this problem. I also stated that we would not make the perfect the 
enemy of the good. Last night, the House passed by voice vote H.R. 
5164, the Transportation Recall Enhancement Accountability and 
Documentation (TREAD) Act. The legislation is similar to S. 3059 and 
has the support of both Republicans and Democrats in the House.
  While the House bill does not go as far as the Senate bill in some 
respects, it will nevertheless advance the cause of safety. It will 
ensure that the Department of Transportation will receive the 
information it needs to detect defects, including information about 
foreign recalls. It will increase penalties for manufacturers that fail 
to comply with the statute and its regulations. The maximum civil 
penalty under the current statute is $980,000. The House bill will 
increase that amount to $15 million. It will also direct the Secretary 
to develop a program to conduct dynamic rollover tests of motor 
vehicles and make that information available to consumers. It will 
direct NHTSA to upgrade the current tire standard for the first time in 
30 years. Finally, the House bill incorporates a measure sponsored by 
Senator Fitzgerald and recently reported by the Senate Commerce 
Committee, which will improve the design of child safety seats.
  Many of the provisions in the House bill are an improvement upon 
current law. The House bill is supported by the Secretary of 
Transportation. Nevertheless, let me be clear, I would prefer to have 
the Senate complete action on the bill reported by the Senate Commerce 
Committee with unanimous support. But holds and stalling tactics used 
by some members of this body will prevent us from even considering the 
Senate measure. The reality we face in the remaining days of Congress 
because of these tactics is that we pass the House bill or we pass 
nothing. Left with that decision, I would prefer we move forward with 
the House bill.
  Some people have raised concerns that the House bill would weaken 
current law in several respects and it would be better to do nothing. 
Specifically, concerns have been raised that the bill would inhibit the 
release of information collected by Department of Transportation to the 
public, that manufacturers could destroy information to avoid the 
reporting requirements, and that the safe harbor provisions for the 
enhanced penalties could apply to existing penalties. I strongly 
disagree with these assertions. More importantly, the supporters of the 
House bill both Democratic and Republicans disagree with those 
assertions as does the Department of Transportation which will be 
charged with carrying out the provisions of the Act.

  House supporters of the bill such as Congressmen Markey and Tauzin 
addressed some of these concerns in a colloquy upon final passage of 
the House bill last night. I ask unanimous consent that the entire 
colloquy from the House bill be included in the Record following my 
remarks. Two portions of the colloquy refute these assertions. First, 
Mr. Markey asks if the ``special disclosure provision for new early 
stage information is not intended to protect from disclosure 
[information] that is currently disclosed under existing law such as 
information about actual defects or recalls?'' Congressman Tauzin 
responds by saying, ``the gentleman is correct.'' Second, Congressman 
Markey asks if it is in the ``Secretary's discretion to require a 
manufacturer to maintain records that are in fact in the manufacturer's 
possession and that it would be a violation of such a requirement to 
destroy such a record?'' Again, Congressman Tauzin responds ``the 
gentleman is correct.''
  Congressman Tauzin wrote to me today to further clarify that this 
provision would not enable manufacturers to destroy or conceal 
information.
  In explaining the safe harbor provision under the enhanced penalty 
section, the intent of the House sponsors is not necessary because it 
is clear on the face of the language that it would not apply to an 
underlying violation of existing criminal law. The language of Section 
4(b)(2) clearly states that the safe harbor only applies to criminal 
penalties ``under this subsection.'' I am not a supporter of the safe 
harbor provisions under this bill. I believe that they create a 
loophole rendering the enhanced penalties meaningless, but it is clear 
that they do not weaken existing law.
  As I said earlier, NHTSA has linked more than 100 deaths to the 
failure of Bridgestone/Firestone tires that are subject to the current 
recall. Each day

[[Page S10274]]

it becomes more apparent that these deaths may have been avoided had 
the Department of Transportation possessed vital safety-related 
information that the law does not currently require manufacturers to 
report.
  The House bill falls short of the Senate bill, but it will improve 
the Department of Transportation's ability to detect defects earlier. 
As Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, I commit to revisiting 
this issue next Congress and resolve the issues left in the House bill. 
But it would be a serious mistake to prevent even this modest reform to 
go forward. I ask my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 5164.
  The bill (H.R. 5164) was passed.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, we went through a great deal of work in 
order to have the legislation passed concerning Bridgestone/Firestone. 
I thank the administration and Secretary Slater for all of his efforts.
  I thank Senator Hollings, who had strongly held views on this issue 
and yet came together with me and others.
  I thank the Consumers Union for what they did. They are an advocacy 
group that, again, didn't see a perfect piece of legislation but 
supported this legislation. Mr. Kimmelman is a man of remarkable 
talents. I thank him.
  I also want to thank Congressman Upton and Congressman Tauzin, who 
were able to get that legislation through the House of Representatives 
in this late period by a voice vote and thereby made it possible for 
this legislation to be passed. They are both remarkable legislators. I 
appreciate very much all they did.
  I say to my colleagues again that this issue isn't over. Tragically, 
I am in fear that there will be more deaths and injuries on America's 
highways before we finally make it much safer for Americans to be on 
America's highways. I think we have taken a major step forward, and one 
that hopefully will save lives and prevent injuries. If that is the 
case, as I think most experts view this legislation, then I think we 
will have done something good today.
  I thank you, Mr. President, for your patience.

                          ____________________