[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 177 (Wednesday, December 2, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H13399-H13401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1130
                    CJ'S HOME PROTECTION ACT OF 2009

  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 320) to amend the National Manufactured Housing Construction 
and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to require that weather radios be 
installed in all manufactured homes manufactured or sold in the United 
States.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 320

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``CJ's Home Protection Act of 
     2009''.

     SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds that--
       (1) nearly 20,000,000 Americans live in manufactured homes, 
     which often provide a more accessible and affordable way for 
     many families to buy their own homes;
       (2) manufactured housing plays a vital role in providing 
     housing for low- and moderate-income families in the United 
     States;
       (3) NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network of 
     radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information 
     directly from a nearby National Weather Service (NWS) office, 
     and broadcasts NWS warnings, watches, forecasts, and other 
     all-hazard information 24 hours a day;
       (4) the operators of manufactured housing communities 
     should be encouraged to provide a safe place of shelter for 
     community residents or a plan for the evacuation of community 
     residents to a safe place of shelter within a reasonable 
     distance of the community for use by community residents in 
     times of severe weather, including tornados and high winds, 
     and local municipalities should be encouraged to require 
     approval of these plans;
       (5) the operators of manufactured housing communities 
     should be encouraged to provide a written reminder 
     semiannually to all owners of manufactured homes in the 
     manufactured housing community to replace the batteries in 
     their weather radios; and
       (6) weather radio manufacturers should include, in the 
     packaging of weather radios, a written reminder to replace 
     the batteries twice each year and written instructions on how 
     to do so.

     SEC. 3. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY 
                   STANDARD.

       Section 604 of the National Manufactured Housing 
     Construction and Safety Standards

[[Page H13400]]

     Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5403) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new subsection:
       ``(i) Weather Radios.--
       ``(1) Construction and safety standard.--The Federal 
     manufactured home construction and safety standards 
     established by the Secretary under this section shall require 
     that each manufactured home delivered for sale shall be 
     supplied with a weather radio inside the manufactured home 
     that--
       ``(A) is capable of broadcasting emergency information 
     relating to local weather conditions;
       ``(B) is equipped with a tone alarm;
       ``(C) is equipped with Specific Alert Message Encoding, or 
     SAME technology; and
       ``(D) complies with Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) 
     Standard 2009-A (or current revision thereof) Performance 
     Specification for Public Alert Receivers.
       ``(2) Liability protections.--No aspect of the function, 
     operation, performance, capabilities, or utilization of the 
     weather radio required under this subsection, or any 
     instructions related thereto, shall be subject to the 
     requirements of section 613 or 615 or any regulations 
     promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to the authority under 
     such sections.''.

     SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT.

       Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period 
     beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     consensus committee established pursuant to section 604(a)(3) 
     of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety 
     Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(a)(3)) shall develop 
     and submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
     a proposed Federal manufactured home construction and safety 
     standard required under section 604(i) of such Act (as added 
     by the amendment made by section 3 of this Act). 
     Notwithstanding section 604(a)(5)(B) of such Act, the 
     Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall issue a 
     final order promulgating the standard required by such 
     section 604(i) not later than the expiration of the 90-day 
     period beginning upon receipt by the Secretary of the 
     proposed standard developed and submitted by the consensus 
     committee.

     SEC. 5. STUDY.

       The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall 
     conduct a study regarding conditioning the applicability of 
     the requirement under the amendment made by section 3 of this 
     Act (relating to supplying weather radios in manufactured 
     homes) on the geographic location at which a manufactured 
     home is placed, but only to the extent that such requirement 
     applies to new manufactured homes and new site-built homes. 
     In conducting such study and making determinations under the 
     study, the Secretary shall take into consideration severe 
     weather conditions, such as high winds and flooding, and wind 
     zones and other severe weather data available from the 
     National Weather Service. Not later than the expiration of 
     the 18-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary shall complete the study and submit a 
     report regarding the results of the study to the Committee on 
     Financial Services of the House of Representatives and to the 
     Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
     Senate.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Waters) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wittman) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, before I begin my remarks, I would like to thank the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth) for his continued leadership on 
this issue, and for authoring the legislation that is before us today.
  H.R. 320, the CJ's Home Protection Act of 2009, is named after CJ 
Martin, a 2-year old boy who was killed when an F3 tornado struck his 
manufactured home in 2005. Over 8 million families rely on manufactured 
housing to fulfill their housing needs. However, many manufactured 
homes, particularly those built before 1994, are incapable of 
withstanding the winds of a tornado, which can reach up to 200 miles. 
In 2008, 45 percent of tornado-related deaths occurred in manufactured 
homes.
  H.R. 320 would provide a much-needed safety component to manufactured 
homes by requiring that they be equipped with weather radios that can 
inform families ahead of time that potentially dangerous weather is on 
the way. With this information, families can take appropriate action to 
protect themselves in the event of dangerous weather. These radios can 
be provided at a minimal cost--less than $50 in most cases--and are a 
small price to pay for saving even one life.
  In addition, given the government's reliance on manufactured housing 
to meet the temporary housing needs of families displaced by natural 
disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, this kind of housing is becoming 
more and more critical to the lives of many Americans. It is crucial 
that this housing be safe and secure over the long term because, as we 
have seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Government 
can be lax in funding and finding permanent housing solutions for 
families temporarily living in these housing units.
  The House already passed this legislation during the 110th Congress, 
and I hope that the Senate joins us in sending a bill to the President 
for his signature. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 320, CJ's Home Protection 
Act of 2009. I would like to thank the chairman for his assistance in 
expediting this important bill to the floor. And I'd like to thank my 
colleague and author of the legislation, the gentleman from Indiana 
(Mr. Ellsworth), for putting this bill together.
  This bipartisan bill amends the Manufactured Housing Construction and 
Safety Standards Act of 1974 by requiring the installation of a 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio in all 
manufactured homes built or sold in the United States. These weather 
radios will provide immediate broadcast of severe weather warnings and 
civil emergency messages, including tornado and flood warnings, AMBER 
alerts for child abductions, and chemical spill notifications.
  The legislation is named in memory of CJ Martin, a 2-year-old boy who 
was killed during a tornado in southwest Indiana in 2005. His mother, 
Kathryn, helped pass a State law requiring the manufactured housing 
industry to install NOAA weather radios in all newly built units and 
spoke at the news conference in support of similar Federal legislation. 
Manufactured housing in this country has replaced a lot of substandard 
housing, and it provides very affordable housing. It is clean, and it 
provides an extraordinarily good home.
  Despite rapid advances in tornado warning technologies, residents of 
manufactured housing communities often do not have adequate access to 
proper shelter. Many residents of homes have a place to go in the event 
of a tornado, whether it is a basement or an interior room. That is why 
Congress passed the Tornado Shelters Act, which was signed into law in 
2003. That bipartisan bill authorized communities using community 
development block grant monies to construct or improve tornado-safe 
shelters located in manufactured housing parks. Unfortunately, this 
program is not used often enough.
  H.R. 320 represents the final link in protecting families and 
residents in these communities. These weather radios will get warnings 
out, sometimes as much as half an hour or more before a severe storm 
arrives. We have the ability to build shelters. Now we are going to 
give residents an opportunity to hear these warnings earlier so they 
can take shelter from these storms. The cost of installing these radios 
is minimal, and this is going to save lives. It is going to save 
families.
  We will never go back and know whether CJ could have survived had 
this legislation been passed. We do know, though, by talking to people 
throughout the United States that these radios have in many, many cases 
already saved lives and will save lives if we install them in 
manufactured housing. We have a shot at significantly reducing over 
half of the deaths from tornadoes simply by taking the step together 
and passing this legislation. I again want to commend the chairman and 
ranking member for expeditiously moving this legislation, and I commend 
the Member from Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth) for his thoughtfulness and his 
care and passion and dedication to this issue.
  With that, Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H13401]]

  Ms. WATERS. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from 
Indiana, the author of this bill, Representative Ellsworth.
  Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of CJ's Home 
Protection Act, H.R. 320. The House's consideration of this public 
safety legislation today--legislation which would require a NOAA 
weather radio be installed in all manufactured homes built and sold in 
this country--is a continuation of an effort we started 2 years ago. 
Back in 2007, the House passed this bill by voice vote, and I hope it 
will receive broad support again today.
  At 2 a.m. on the morning of November 6, 2005, an F3 tornado touched 
down in my district in southwest Indiana. The tornado hit a 
manufactured housing community after most people had gone to sleep, and 
it tragically took 25 lives, Hoosier lives in Vanderburgh and Warrick 
County. These lives might have been saved if the victims knew of the 
dangerous storm that was approaching.
  CJ, a loving and playful 2-year-old boy, was one of the victims that 
night. CJ and 24 other victims, including his grandmother and great 
grandmother, are the reason why I'm here today. His picture is a 
reminder of the heartbreaking loss that severe weather can bring to 
families and communities throughout this country. All too frequently 
this loss comes with little or no warning.
  Madam Speaker, I was the sheriff of the county back in 2005, and my 
department oversaw the recovery effort in the aftermath of this 
horrendous storm. The horror and devastation the storm left behind is 
something I will remember the rest of my life. That is why this bill is 
so important to me and many others.
  While CJ is the inspiration for this important public safety 
legislation, Kathryn Martin, CJ's mother, is the leader in the effort. 
In the months after the storm, Kathryn channeled her pain and suffering 
toward an effort to pass similar legislation in the State of Indiana. 
Kathryn would not be denied. She was successful in getting the bill 
passed, and because of the awareness she raised about weather radios, 
the people in my hometown of Evansville, Indiana, have the most weather 
radios in households per capita in the United States.
  When I first met Kathryn, I promised her that if I ever came to 
Congress I would introduce Federal legislation to do the same thing 
that she was trying to push in our State. The bill before us today is a 
fulfillment of that promise. CJ's Home Protection Act amends the 
Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standard to require 
that each manufactured home delivered for sale shall be supplied with a 
weather radio inside the manufactured home.
  One might question that when not every area of the country endures 
the same dangerous tornado season, why should this be a national 
standard? While it's true that some regions encounter more tornadoes 
than others, extreme weather exists everywhere. A tornado took CJ's 
life. But for another child living in California, it could be a 
wildfire or a mudslide. For a child living in Texas, it could be a 
flash flood. Also, it should be added that NOAA weather radios are used 
to put out AMBER alerts. The radio must be capable of broadcasting 
emergency information related to local weather conditions, equipped 
with a tone alarm and specific alert message encoding, and comply with 
Consumer Electronics Association standards for public receivers.
  Like a smoke detector, these inexpensive devices can provide families 
with the warning they need to take action and protect themselves when 
severe weather strikes. This bill is about improving public safety, 
plain and simple. It's not about demonizing the manufactured housing 
industry. Kathryn and John Martin and the other residents of this 
community love their homes, and the manufactured houses provide 
affordable, high-quality homes for thousands of American families. I'm 
a strong supporter of manufactured housing. I see this legislation as 
adding one more feature to enhance the safety features of these 
structures.
  Before I conclude my remarks, Madam Speaker, I'd like to thank 
Chairman Barney Frank and his staff at the Financial Services Committee 
for their efforts to move this legislation forward. This bill would not 
be where it is today without the strong support of Ranking Member 
Spencer Bachus. He has been a vocal advocate for this cause from the 
very beginning. Thank you very much. I would also like to thank 
Congressman Dennis Moore and Congresswoman Kay Granger for their 
support as original cosponsors. Finally, I'd like to thank my good 
friend from Indiana, Congressman Joe Donnelly, who was helpful 
throughout the entire process.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important public safety 
legislation. The cost of a NOAA weather radio is a mere $30 to $80, and 
for that price we can improve the safety of so many people from the 
sudden threat of extreme weather.
  Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, in closing, I do want to thank Ranking Member Bachus. 
He has done a tremendous job in pushing forth this bill, along with the 
chairman. And I also want to thank again Mr. Ellsworth for his passion 
and his leadership on this issue. We all know that we dread times of 
storm. We've just gone through one in Virginia where, luckily, we 
didn't lose any lives. But we all know that when there are ways to 
prevent death and destruction, we ought to act in that way. Mr. 
Ellsworth and his leadership, seeing the need, seeing where we can save 
lives, stood up, assumed that leadership role and has really done, I 
think, a great thing for folks that have manufactured homes throughout 
the United States. Again, thank you for your leadership. And thank you 
again to Mr. Bachus, the ranking member, for his leadership on this and 
to the chairman for pushing this important legislation through.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to applaud the 
actions of the House of Representatives in addressing the need to 
install weather radios in all manufactured homes manufactured or sold 
in the United States to ensure the safety of all Americans. This bill, 
named after a 2-year-old boy whose life was taken away when a tornado 
struck his community in 2005, will allow residents to receive more 
timely warnings about imminent severe weather. Accordingly, the bill 
ensures that each manufactured home delivered for sale in the United 
States be supplied with a weather radio.
  Nearly 20,000,000 Americans live in manufactured homes. Because 
manufactured homes are more affordable than traditional homes, they are 
a viable housing option for low and moderate-income families. With the 
state of the economy, manufactured homes have become a more accessible 
and affordable way for many families to purchase their own homes. Thus, 
weather radios are essential as they provide immediate broadcast 
warnings of severe weather, such as floods, tornados, and high winds.
  In March of 2009 a surprise tornado struck the City of Atlanta and 
caused millions of dollars worth of damage. Tornadoes can strike in 
many parts of the country, including places where they are rare, such 
as Atlanta. This is why the CJ's Home Protection Act of 2009 is an 
important piece of legislation that will save lives. I support this 
legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 320.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________