[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 18, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H2708-H2709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         BUILDING SAFETY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Barr) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark Building Safety Month, to 
recognize the importance of building safety, and to congratulate the 
leadership of the International Code Council that develops and 
publishes the model building safety and energy efficiency model codes 
used in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and across the country. 
Increasingly, these codes, developed in the United States, are being 
adopted in other nations as a model of safe construction.
  Every year, there are sobering reminders about the key role that 
building codes can have. Foreign nations still experience catastrophic 
losses of life and property due to natural events and poor construction 
practices. These losses have been greatly reduced in this country 
thanks to the adoption of sound building practices.
  Deadly fires, tornados, windstorms, floods, earthquakes, and other 
events remind us of the critical need for strong buildings. As Congress 
discusses the need for resilience and greater energy efficiency in our 
communities, we are reminded in May that key elements of resilience and 
energy efficiency are sound building and energy codes.
  I want to congratulate the leaders of the ICC, which has sponsored 
Building Safety Month in May every year for over 30 years. The theme of 
this year's Building Safety Month, appropriately, is ``Driving Growth 
Through Innovation, Resilience, and Safety.''
  The leadership board of the ICC, including my constituent, President 
Alex Olszowy, building inspection supervisor for the Lexington-Fayette 
Urban County Government in Kentucky, will join ICC's chief executive 
officer, Dominic Sims, in Washington next week to discuss the critical 
need to support the adoption and enforcement of current building codes 
to make sure Americans are safe at home, at work, at school, and at 
play.
  On this occasion, I also want to highlight the good work of the Code 
Administrators Association of Kentucky, including president Jeff Camp 
and the other leaders of the Commonwealth's ICC chapter, and to thank 
the thousands of men and women who work

[[Page H2709]]

every day to make sure our buildings comply with building and fire 
codes. Their work, largely unseen and often unnoticed, is critical to 
keeping the American people safe.
  The model building codes adopted by ICC members from all 50 States 
allow every community to share the advantage of adopting building codes 
that are adaptable to local conditions but, at the same time, 
incorporate the very latest research, materials, and building 
practices.
  This is achieved through a public-private partnership, saving local 
jurisdictions from bearing the large expense of code revision, 
updating, and coordination. These model codes are produced through the 
cooperation of thousands of local U.S. code officials working with the 
building industry to produce codes that represent the consensus on what 
the minimum safety requirements are and should be for various building 
types, all without a dime of Federal taxpayer money.
  I should mention that the Architect of the Capitol maintains the 
safety of this building and all House and Senate office buildings by 
following the requirements in the current International Building Code.
  So congratulations and a heartfelt thanks to the hardworking members 
and leadership of the International Code Council during this Building 
Safety Month.

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