[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 186 (Thursday, December 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14830-S14831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    LENDING DISASTER AND POOL SAFETY

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise to talk about a very important 
constituent of mine, a 6-year-old girl named Abbey Taylor, who was 
severely hurt this past summer in a pool accident--something that could 
have been prevented if this body and the House of Representatives had 
acted a few years ago on a pool safety bill. We have an opportunity, 
before we go into recess, before the year's end, to do the right thing. 
But before I talk about that, I would like to make note of the 
President's remarks today on the subprime housing crisis that threatens 
our Nation's economy.
  While I am pleased that after months of trying to wish the problem 
away, the President has finally decided to come forward with a proposal 
for this problem. Today's announcement is only a small step toward 
helping homeowners faced with foreclosure. We must do more if we are 
truly going to address this problem.
  In the world of subprime lending, the chickens have finally come home 
to roost. Nearly 8.6 percent--or 1 in 12--of subprime mortgages in my 
State, the State of Minnesota, are in foreclosure. Minnesota had the 
fourth highest foreclosure rate in the second quarter of this year. The 
results of this spike in foreclosures will be devastating for our 
State, as it will be for other States across the country.
  As the number of foreclosures increase, property values are likely to 
drop, resulting in decreased tax revenues and increased municipal 
maintenance costs. Slumping housing values are also likely to result in 
decreased consumer spending and could jeopardize the overall economy.
  If we are to contain the economic spillover effect of the subprime 
lending disaster, we must act now.
  We need additional reforms to protect borrowers, such as ensuring 
that borrowers actually understand all the terms of their mortgage in a 
simple, one-page description of their terms, including their ability to 
repay a loan at both the teaser rate and the adjusted rate. We also 
need to ensure that homeowners aren't hit with a huge and unexpected 
tax or insurance bill at the end of the year by escrowing that amount.
  I am a cosponsor of the Borrower's Protection Act that would require 
mortgage lenders and brokers to protect consumers from predatory 
lending practices. Banks should simply not be allowed to offer loans--
and actually, banks today are regulated in a way that makes sure they 
are not allowed to offer these loans. I want to make sure other 
lenders, nonbank lenders, these predatory lenders are asked to follow 
the same rules.
  We need to protect the economy and take comprehensive action now 
before it is too late. Millions of families have been waiting for the 
President to take a seat at the table, and let's hope as we move 
forward we can enact legislation that truly addresses the needs of 
these families.
  But I come here today to discuss, as I said, a constituent of mine, a 
little 6-year-old girl named Abbey Taylor, a very brave little girl. I 
hope this story will give people a sense of urgency about moving the 
legislation that is currently before the Senate. I know we have big 
bills before us--and I come to the floor urging my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle to allow these bills to proceed--bills such as 
the farm bill, which is so important to so many farmers in my State and 
to get these appropriations bills moving. The President has threatened 
to veto, and we have stopped the Transportation bill, despite the move 
of the Democrats to push and push and push the Transportation bill. 
There are two that have been stopped, and that includes, I will tell my 
colleagues, $195 million in funding that will help us to complete the 
work on the I-35W bridge that so tragically fell in the middle of a 
beautiful day in Minnesota, right in the middle of the river. It should 
never have happened.
  Sometimes the bills that we work on here can make a difference in a 
very small way, in a way that maybe isn't as big and you don't talk 
about as much on TV, but in a way that can help save lives of girls 
such as Abbey Taylor. This legislation has already passed the Commerce 
Committee unanimously, and it is awaiting our action. This legislation 
would help prevent serious injury or death to other children. I want to 
convey the sense of urgency on behalf of Abbey Taylor and her parents 
to each and every one of my colleagues. I want my colleagues to know 
that families across our country are waiting for us to finally pass 
this legislation. One of those families waiting is the Taylor family of 
Edina, MN.
  This summer, their daughter Abbey went swimming at a local pool. She 
was in a 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. It 
was a miraculous gift that she lived. She actually sat up and moved 
away from the suction when so many other children have perished when 
the same thing has happened. So she somehow managed to stand up and 
take a few steps before collapsing along the side of the wading pool.

[[Page S14831]]

  She remained hospitalized for weeks after undergoing several 
surgeries. She will survive, thanks to a miracle, but doctors expect 
she will need a feeding tube the rest of her life. She is now on a list 
for transplant.
  What happened to this little 6-year-old girl on a summer day in 
Minnesota is horrific. My own daughter's name is Abigail, and hearing 
about this incident brings chills to any parent. When I first saw the 
story in our local newspaper, I had to stop reading it because the 
details of it were so disturbing. This is something that we can 
prevent, and this is something that is every parent's nightmare. You 
look at this first as a mother: Your daughter is enjoying a beautiful 
summer day having fun playing at the local pool. This is not just the 
deep end of the pool. This was the kiddie wading pool. But suddenly 
something terrible happens and your life is changed forever. That is 
what happened to the Taylors.
  When it was first reported, like everyone else, I thought it was some 
kind of a freak, one-of-a-kind incident. I never thought I would spend 
time talking about it on the Senate floor. I didn't think I would have 
to come to the Senate floor twice to talk about it, when, in fact, the 
bill that addresses this passed our committee unanimously and has 
already passed through the Senate years back. But then I learned this 
was 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 death of several dozen 
children over the past 15 years.
  It even has a name. It is called 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 that is 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 muscle-bound man trying to pull a ball off a swimming pool drain 
using both arms and all of his might and he couldn't do it. The suction 
force was 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 there have been that have not resulted in death but instead 
severe injury because entrapment is a little known risk, and it is 
possible that many swimming pool drowning deaths or other injuries have 
not been classified as entrapment.
  This legislation must pass. The legislation has several important 
provisions. It would take the Consumer Product Safety Commission's 
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.
  Most importantly--and this was an enormous improvement over the past 
bill that this body passed years ago--it requires that all public pools 
in this country, including hotels, apartments, local municipal pools, 
and other pools intended for multiple users be equipped with 
antientrapment drain covers. These covers are something like 30 bucks 
apiece. This was the amendment I introduced on behalf of children such 
as Abbey, and I am proud it has now been included in the bill.
  In addition, we have an agreement on another provision that would 
require that all of these public pools with single-made drains 
incorporate an additional layer of protection to guard against suction-
related drowning. Again, this is about $130 we are talking here--not 
about private pools but about huge public pools that are used by 
thousands and thousands and thousands of children.
  This legislation is called the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa 
Safety Act, named in the memory of 7-year-old Virginia Graeme, who was 
a granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker. I talked to 
Secretary of State Baker just about a week ago, and we both concur in 
our frustration that while this legislation has huge bipartisan 
support, it is being held up by one of our colleagues, someone on the 
other side of the aisle, someone who I think has said he wants to work 
with us and wants to get this through, but we have been so far 
unsuccessful, despite several efforts. I talked to James Baker. But 
just as importantly, every other week I talk to the Taylors, and they 
always ask me if we have gotten this legislation passed yet.
  Now, what do you say when you talk, as I do, to the father of this 
little girl, Abbey Taylor, who continues to struggle in the months that 
have passed since losing her intestines? Do you tell them that, well, 
we passed it unanimously through the committee, but now it is stuck, 
that one person is able to hold up a bill that 99 other people support? 
These parents are so courageous that they have moved on from that, and 
they even want her severe injury discussed today. They wanted me to 
discuss this. They want the world to know what happened to her because 
they don't want it to happen to another little girl again. They are not 
afraid to have us talk about what happened to their little daughter 
because they want it to never happen to another child again.
  There is a saying that when an accident happens that could reasonably 
have been prevented, then it is not really 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 their 
parents. They have a reasonable expectation to think their child can go 
into a public wading pool and not lose their intestines. It is really a 
failure of our country, of our product safety laws, and we all have to 
take responsibility for it, just as we have to take responsibility for 
these toxic toys that shouldn't be on our shores and in our stores, 
which is something else that we need to get done before we go home for 
the holidays. It is a failure, whether it is about the toys or whether 
it is about these pool drains. It is a failure that is within our power 
to correct, a problem that can be faced through reasonable measures and 
fixed by legislation.
  I think the fact that Senator Stevens supports this bill and has 
worked with us on it and the fact that we have Republican support for 
this bill shows this isn't some whacky legislation. We worked with 
people on both sides. We worked with the manufacturers. We worked with 
the consumer groups. We came up with a reasonable bill.
  So I ask my colleagues: What am I supposed to tell this dad when I 
talk to him tonight? Am I supposed to tell him that some rules in the 
Senate say that one person can hold up a bill against the will of the 
entire body? I don't want to tell him that. I want to tell him we were 
able to work this out and get this bill through and to make sure no 
other parents are sitting in a waiting room in a hospital for weeks 
while they are trying to find out if their daughter is going to live or 
if there is going to be a transplant for their daughter. I want to tell 
them this isn't going to happen again.
  On behalf of Abbey Taylor and the Taylor family and for the health 
and safety of all of our children, I urge the Senate to take quick 
action to pass these simple consumer measures that are before us; to 
pass the measure about the toys, to pass the measure about the pool 
drains. We are dealing with huge issues in this body: the war in Iraq, 
foreign intelligence, we are talking about the farm bill, and we want 
them to pass. But these consumer bills can actually have an impact 
immediately in a little child's life. So let's go back and get this 
done.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor, and I note the absence 
of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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