[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1049-S1050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               STURDY Act

  Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I rise this evening to share the urgent 
need to pass a bipartisan bill, a piece of legislation we have been 
working on for years now that will save the lives of children.
  Every year, emergency rooms across the country treat over 22,000 
preventable injuries--22,000 preventable injuries--caused by falling 
furniture, like dressers or television sets. On average, roughly half--
half--of those injured are children, and of the vast majority of those 
killed by furniture tip-overs, some 81 percent are children. Eighty-one 
percent of all those killed by furniture tip-overs are children.
  The death of a child is an unspeakable loss. There is no way to 
calculate it, and if you haven't lived through it, I don't think any of 
us can understand what some families have lived through. Yet in 
America, the most powerful Nation on the Earth, in less than 20 years, 
more than 460 children have been killed by these furniture tip-overs, 
and that number is the reported fatality number.
  Compounding the grief and loss that these families experience is the 
fact that these deaths might have been prevented.
  The answer here is pretty simple: mandatory stability standards that 
would make our homes safer for our children. For years now, Senator 
Klobuchar, Senator Blumenthal, Senator Cotton, and I have led a 
bipartisan effort to pass the STURDY Act.
  Here is what all of the letters in that acronym stand for: The Stop 
Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth. We call it the STURDY 
Act.
  The STURDY Act would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission 
to create a mandatory stability standard for furniture. That is all it 
does. It would create a mandatory stability standard. It would require 
companies to ensure their products are tested for safety and stability 
before being sold. It is a simple, commonsense requirement that will 
save the lives of children and prevent injuries.
  Families in Pennsylvania and across the Nation have been waiting too 
long for the Senate to act. There are families like the Lamberts and 
the Collases who have experienced every parent's worst nightmare--the 
loss of a child. These families have given my staff permission for me 
to share their stories tonight on the Senate floor. These are two 
stories I will start with.
  You can see on my left, Katie Lambert.
  Katie Lambert, in 2005, was 3 years old, just 3 years old. Her mom 
Judy describes her as ``everything a three-year-old child should be--
full of love and spontaneity.''
  Katie loved Thomas the Tank Engine; she loved Buzz Lightyear; and, of 
course, she loved her older brothers.
  Katie's family had just moved into their new home in Huntingdon 
Valley, PA, in Southeastern Pennsylvania. One day, Katie was playing in 
her room while her mom painted the room next-door. Suddenly, Judy heard 
an ``awful crash'' as she described it. Judy ran into the room to find 
3-year-old Katie crushed beneath a tall, mirrored wardrobe. The 
wardrobe had been on carpet and was unstable.
  Judy said:

       While we don't know what Katie was doing, she was probably 
     dancing and watching herself in the mirrors. She may have 
     bumped up against it or tried to open one of the doors or 
     maybe the vibration of her dancing in the room was just 
     enough to cause it to become unstable and fall forward on 
     her.

  That is what her mom Judy said.
  You can see in this photograph a beautiful little child, Katie 
Lambert, who died on that day. As her mom Judy held her, waiting for an 
ambulance to arrive, Katie took her last breath. She would have been 21 
years old this year, and Judy wonders what she would be like today. 
What would she look like as a young woman? What college would she have 
chosen and what career path? Would she like spicy food like her 
brothers do?
  Judy Lambert wanted me to share a message today, and it is quoted 
right here on this poster:

       Please, do everything you can to ensure that no other 
     family suffers the pain we do.

  So said a mom about what we should do when we think of this child.
  Then, Judy went on to say:

       I am begging you to pass the STURDY Act now.

  We should listen to her words and act.
  The second child I will talk about tonight is Curren Collas. Another 
family, the Collas family, experienced a similar tragedy in their home 
in West Chester, PA.
  Curren was just 2 years old--2 years old--with blond hair and deep 
blue eyes that his mom Jackie described as ``soulful.'' Curren loved 
his cars. He would carefully display his collection of them in a 
perfect line.
  In February of 2014, Jackie walked into Curren's bedroom to wake him 
for the day. She discovered Curren's five-drawer dresser had fallen on 
him. Curren was trapped between it and his bed. As she waited for an 
ambulance to arrive, Jackie tried to resuscitate Curren but was later 
told by the paramedics that he had no vital signs when they took over.
  In the months after Curren's death, Jackie would sometimes stumble on 
his toy cars, hidden around the house--reminders of her spirited son, 
Curren.
  Obviously, Jackie and her family's lives will never ever be the same.
  Here is what she told us in memory of her son. She said:

       Even if I live until 100, it's going to be before Curren 
     and after Curren.

  Just two stories tell us all we need to know about why we have to 
pass this bill. We could tell a lot more from Pennsylvania and so many 
other States that are represented by those Senators I mentioned and 
represented by Senators from other States. There is no reason--no 
reason at all--for families to endure this unimaginable grief, but, 
tragically, families across the Nation share similar stories of losing 
children to these horrific furniture tipover accidents. You will hear 
more of their

[[Page S1050]]

stories from my colleagues in the days ahead.
  In the memory of Katie and Curren and so many others who were lost to 
their families--killed in these tragedies--we must pass the STURDY Act. 
It is not complicated. It is not complicated at all. We must ensure 
that the furniture sold to consumers is tested--tested for safety and 
tested for stability. Congress must do all it can. We in the Senate 
must do all we can to ensure that no more children--no more children--
are harmed or killed by furniture tipovers.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.