[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 17, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9313-S9314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              POOL SAFETY

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I am here today to talk about another 
subject, and that is an accident that happened in Minnesota over the 
Fourth of July break. It brought home to me and many people in my State 
that there are many ways that Government must act to protect its 
citizens. Some of them are larger than life--the debate over the 
strategy in Iraq. Others are smaller and quieter, a little girl lying 
maimed in a hospital bed after an accident that a simple law could have 
prevented.
  We are in the midst of the summer swimming season in our State and 
all over the country, a time when children of all ages take to the 
swimming pools--as they should. Today, I wish to speak about the 
terrible injury suffered by a young girl in my State only weeks ago. 
That is why I feel such a sense of urgency about moving the legislation 
that is currently pending in the Senate--it is going to be considered 
by the Commerce Committee this week--which would help prevent serious 
injury or death for other children in the future.
  Abigail Taylor, known as Abby, is a 6-year-old girl from suburban 
Minnesota, a girl with big brown eyes and a dazzling smile who loved to 
swim. Last month Abby went swimming at a local pool. She was in the 
shallow wading pool when she sat over an open drain hole and had most 
of her intestines torn out by the drain's powerful suction.
  Somehow this little 6-year-old girl managed to stand up and take a 
few steps before collapsing along the side of the wading pool. Now, 
nearly 3 weeks later, she remains hospitalized after undergoing several 
surgeries. She will survive, thanks to a miracle, her parents believe, 
but it is expected that she will need a feeding tube for the rest of 
her life. All of this, simply because she spent a sunny summer day at a 
pool.
  What happened to this little 6-year-old girl is horrific. My own 
daughter's name is Abigail, and hearing about this incident brings 
chills to any parent. When I first saw this story about this in our 
local newspaper, I had to stop reading because the details of it were 
so disturbing. They would be for any parent.
  I look at this first as a mother. Your daughter is enjoying a 
beautiful summer day having fun playing at the local pool. It is not 
even a deep pool. It is just a kiddy pool. But suddenly something 
terrible happens, and your life is changed forever.
  When it was first reported, like everyone else, I thought this was 
some kind of freak, one-of-a-kind incident. I never thought I would be 
spending time talking about it on the Senate floor. But then I learned 
that, unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened. As 
it turns out, although most pools are safe and well maintained, this 
type of incident has happened too many times before, resulting in the 
deaths of several dozen children over the past 15 years.
  It even has a name: pool entrapment. It occurs when a child becomes 
stuck on a drain and is unable to escape due to the high velocity and 
pressure of the water being sucked into the drain.
  Another scenario occurs when hair or jewelry gets sucked into the 
drain, making it difficult for a child to pull free. According to the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission, the pressure on some pool drains 
can be as strong as 300 pounds per inch. In fact, several years ago, 
the Commission produced an educational video on this danger.
  It showed a muscular man trying to pull an inflatable ball off a 
swimming pool drain. Using both arms and all of his might, he couldn't 
do it; the suction force was just too powerful.
  Two years ago the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a report 
saying it was aware of at least 27 deaths and many more emergency room 
visits and hospitalizations due to this entrapment. Most of these 
victims were children. It is unclear how many actual entrapment 
incidents have not resulted in death but severe injury because 
entrapment is a little-known risk. It is possible that many swimming 
pool drowning deaths or other injuries have not been classified as 
caused by entrapment.
  I think it is curious that I know of three of these incidents: the 
one in Minnesota, the one I am about to talk about involving Jim 
Baker's granddaughter, and another one in which former Senator Edwards 
represented a family with the tragic incident involving a pool drain.
  You know, it never even crosses a parent's mind that at the bottom of 
the kiddy pool is something that has enough force and will cause death 
or severe injury as it did to Abby Taylor. But it should never have 
happened, and we must do everything we can to make sure it never 
happens again to any child because it is preventable.
  There are several simple ways, as we will discuss in the Commerce 
Committee hearing this week, for manufacturers to reduce entrapment 
risk at pools: installing antientanglement and antientrapment drain 
covers; installing multiple drains, reducing suction force for each 
drain; installing a gravity flow or a safety vacuum release system, 
that prevents entrapment by automatically shutting off the pool pump.
  These antientrapment measures are simple and inexpensive, and they 
can literally save children's lives. I saw a drain today that costs 50 
bucks. That, plus adequate monthly inspection, can save lives.
  There are also reasonable measures that Congress can take to help 
strengthen pool safety standards and prevent this kind of terrible 
incident from ever happening again to another child. The Commerce 
Committee has jurisdiction over product safety. It is led by two of my 
colleagues, Senators Inouye and Stevens, who have been leaders on this 
issue. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of the legislation introduced 
last week by Senators Pryor, Stevens, Dodd, and myself, which would 
strengthen the safety standards for America's swimming pools and spas 
so we can prevent the kind of incident that happened to 6-year-old Abby 
Taylor.
  As chairman of the Consumer Subcommittee, Senator Pryor has pushed to 
have this legislation included on the agenda for this week's committee 
markup. This legislation is called the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and 
Safety Act, named in memory of the 7-year-old granddaughter of former 
Secretary of State James Baker.
  It was an honor to meet this morning with Graeme's mother. She was 
here in her daughter's memory talking to Members of Congress. Several 
years ago, Graeme died as a result of suction entrapment in a spa. Her 
body was held underwater by the force of the suction, and it took two 
adults to help pry her free from the drain. But it was too late. She 
had already drowned.
  This tragedy occurred at a graduation party that was well supervised 
by scores of adults. The purpose of this legislation is to reduce the 
likelihood that any other child will end up like Graeme Baker or Abby 
Taylor.
  This same bill was introduced last year. The Senate passed it by 
unanimous consent. But in the closing days of the last Congress, it 
failed to pass the House of Representatives by a narrow margin. Now, 
what do you say when you talk, as I did, to the father of this little 
girl, Abby Taylor, who is lying maimed in a hospital bed losing her 
intestines? You tell them that: Well, we got it through the Senate, but 
the House just did not have the votes to do it.

  These parents are so courageous that they have moved on from that. 
They want her severe injuries to be discussed today. They are not 
afraid to have us talking about what happened to their little daughter 
because they want it never to happen to another child.
  This year this legislation must pass. The legislation has several 
important provisions. It would take Consumer Product Safety Commission 
standards for pool drains, which are now voluntary, and make them 
mandatory.
  It would prohibit the manufacture, sale, or distribution of drain 
covers that do not meet the standards established by the Commission. It 
is important to strengthen the legislation to make sure that not only 
new pools but all public pools meet the same standard.
  The legislation also provides incentives for States to adopt their 
own

[[Page S9314]]

comprehensive pool safety laws regarding certain water safety devices, 
that they be installed to protect children. It also would contain 
grants to create these incentives.
  There is a saying that when an accident happens that could reasonably 
have been prevented, then it is not accurate to call it an accident; it 
is actually a failure.
  In the case of injuries and deaths caused by pool entrapment, it is 
not a failure by children or by their parents, it is a failure of our 
product safety laws. This means it is also a failure that it is within 
our power to correct, a problem that can be fixed through reasonable 
measures contained in this legislation.
  We deal with issues larger than life, as we will today as we debate 
the war in Iraq. But sometimes a simple, small change in a law will 
save the life of a small child. Let's never forget what happened to 
innocent children such as Abby Taylor and Graeme Baker. For the health 
and safety of all of our children, I urge the Senate to take quick 
action to approve this legislation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

                          ____________________