[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 157 (Thursday, December 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE NURSING HOME FIRE SAFETY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2005

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I am proud today to join the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. King) in introducing the Nursing Home Fire 
Safety Act of 2005.
  As millions of Americans visit their friends and family in nursing 
homes in this holiday season, they want to know that their loved ones 
are safe from the threat of fire. However, it would disturb many to 
learn that the Government Accountability Office estimates that 20 to 30 
percent of the 17,000 nursing homes across the country still lack a 
full fire sprinkler system.
  Unfortunately, families in my district have seen tragic results of a 
nursing home fire first hand. In February 2003 sixteen residents of a 
nursing home in Hartford were killed in one of the worst fires in the 
city's history. Another nursing home fire in Nashville, Tennessee later 
that year took the lives of fifteen people. In both cases these 
buildings were older facilities that had been allowed to operate 
without an automatic fire sprinkler system.
  A July 2004 GAO report found that ``the substantial loss of life in 
the Hartford and Nashville fires could have been reduced or eliminated 
by the presence of properly functioning automatic sprinkler systems,'' 
and that ``federal oversight of nursing home compliance with fire 
safety standards is inadequate.'' And, according to the National Fire 
Protection Association (NFPA), there is no record of a multiple death 
fire in a nursing home equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler 
system.
  It has been almost 2 years since the tragic fires of 2003, yet the 
federal government has taken only small steps to increase fire safety 
in nursing homes. To date the only concrete action the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken to improve fire safety 
is requiring nursing homes without a sprinkler system to install 
battery operated smoke detectors. While this is a good first step, the 
rule has been criticized by fire safety advocates since the smoke 
detectors do not need to be hard wired to the building's alarm system 
or 9-1-1.
  Experts agree that it's not a matter of ``if' there will be another 
nursing home fire, but when and how bad. It should not take another 
tragedy to remind us how vulnerable our nursing homes are to fire.
  According to the GAO and industry experts, the single biggest 
obstacle preventing most nursing homes from installing sprinklers is 
the cost. Already burdened by the increasing cost to care for their 
residents and shortfalls in the Medicare funding they rely on, they 
simply cannot afford these systems. In addition, while CMS has it 
within their authority to increase fire safety standards and mandate 
the installation of sprinklers, it has repeatedly shied away from doing 
so because of the cost that would be passed on to nursing homes.

  That is why we are introducing this legislation today.
  The Nursing Home Fire Safety Act of 2005 would provide low interest 
loans and need-based grants to nursing homes in the greatest need of 
assistance in tackling the high cost of installing sprinklers. The loan 
program would assist nursing homes that cannot afford the up-front cost 
of retrofitting their facilities, but could afford to pay back a low 
interest government backed loan. The grant program would target those 
nursing homes in the greatest need of financial assistance in 
installing sprinkler systems by requiring the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services to give priority to facilities that lack the resources 
to install these systems on their own. In addition, the bill expresses 
the sense of Congress that every nursing home in America should be 
equipped with full sprinkler systems within 5 years and that CMS should 
move quickly to adopt stronger fire safety standards.
  Together, these provisions will ensure that nursing homes have access 
to the financial resources to overcome the cost of providing their 
residents with the fire safety protection they need.
  The Hartford and Nashville fires demonstrated the terrible and 
unacceptable consequences of allowing cost to stand in the way of fire 
safety. Congress has ignored this problem for far too long and it is 
time for us to take action to ensure that our nation's most vulnerable 
are safe from the threat of fire.
  Again, I thank Mr. King for joining me in this important initiative, 
and urge our colleagues to join us in helping to make nursing homes in 
their districts--and around the country--safe from the threat of fire.