[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 14, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H3027-H3028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     YOUTH POISONING PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4310) to ban the sale of products with a high concentration 
of sodium nitrite to individuals, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4310

       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 ``Youth Poisoning Protection 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. BANNING OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING A HIGH CONCENTRATION 
                   OF SODIUM NITRITE.

       (a) In General.--Any consumer product containing a high 
     concentration of sodium nitrite shall be considered to be a 
     banned hazardous product under section 8 of the Consumer 
     Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2057).
       (b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
       (1) Consumer product.--The term ``consumer product'' has 
     the meaning given that term under section 3(a)(5) of the 
     Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(5)).
       (2) High concentration of sodium nitrite.--The term ``high 
     concentration of sodium nitrite'' means a concentration of 10 
     or more percent by weight of sodium nitrite.
       (c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 90 days 
     after the date of enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material in the Record on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4310, the Youth Poisoning 
Protection Act.
  It is important for the House to pass H.R. 4310 because, sadly, we 
have seen a significant rise in self-poisonings using sodium nitrite in 
the United States since 2017.
  Many of these poisonings occur due to simple online purchase of these 
ingredients. While sodium nitrite has a wide variety of valuable 
commercial and industrial uses, which importantly this legislation does 
not affect, it is also crucial that Congress intervene to prevent these 
tragic outcomes, particularly amongst our children.
  This legislation seeks to address poisonings through a narrowly 
tailored prohibition on the sale of consumer products that contain 
sodium nitrite at concentrations greater than 10 percent, which 
precludes consumer access to products regulated under the Consumer 
Product Safety Act.
  I thank Representatives Trahan and Casey for their strong bipartisan 
work on this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' today, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 4310, the Youth 
Poisoning Protection Act.
  This legislation is necessary because, sadly, online forums are 
providing detailed instructions and real-time guidance on how to die by 
suicide by consuming just a small amount of sodium nitrite.
  As a result, over the past few years, data from the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention has shown a sharp increase in the rise 
of self-poisoning using sodium nitrite.
  H.R. 4310 would ban the sale of highly concentrated sodium nitrite to 
consumers in order to help prevent it for this use. Experts have made 
it clear that there is no good reason for consumers to purchase this 
product at such high concentration.
  This bill is an important step in ensuring that lethal levels of 
sodium nitrite stay out of the hands of those who will use it to harm 
themselves.
  I commend the sponsor of this bill, Representative Trahan, from our 
committee for her leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Mrs. Trahan), the sponsor of this 
legislation.
  Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I 
am grateful to Ranking Member Pallone, Chair Rodgers, Ranking Member 
Schakowsky, Chairman Bilirakis, and members of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee for their unanimous support for this bipartisan, bicameral 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, the Youth Poisoning Protection Act is urgently needed to 
limit consumer access to high concentrations of a dangerous toxic 
chemical that is being promoted online as a method to die by suicide.
  Two years ago, an investigation by The New York Times exposed online 
suicide assistance forums, websites that operate in the shadows of the 
internet. These platforms are home to many users who present themselves 
as a community dedicated to helping others experiencing suicidal 
ideation, but who instead encourage those in dire need of help to end 
their lives and even help facilitate their attempt to do so.
  Their activities have contributed to a rise in suicides using the 
chemical sodium nitrite, which in low concentrations is safe and often 
used to cure meat and fish.
  However, in high concentrations, sodium nitrite is toxic at levels 
comparable to cyanide.
  If that is not bad enough, it gets worse.
  While those same anonymous users promote the poison as a painless way 
to die by suicide, survivors tell a very different story, detailing 
experiences of nausea, vomiting, intense stomach pain, and heart 
palpitations as the substance chokes off oxygen to critical organs.
  When notified by my office of the product's popularization as a 
suicide

[[Page H3028]]

method, many websites that sold the product, including Amazon, 
eventually took down their listings or limited sales to businesses with 
a proven use for it.
  There are bad actors out there looking to capitalize on people 
experiencing suicidal ideation by creating websites for the sole 
purpose of selling the chemical as suicide kits. Right now there is no 
law on the books to stop them from doing so.
  Mr. Speaker, the Youth Poisoning Protection Act changes that by 
prohibiting the consumer sale of sodium nitrite products with a 
concentration higher than 10 percent--the usefulness threshold agreed 
upon by independent experts.
  I will note for my colleagues that this bill solely limits the sale 
of this product to consumers. There are some businesses that cure meat 
and fish in bulk and need to purchase sodium nitrite in high 
concentrations as part of that process. This bill will not affect them.
  It solely seeks to end the straight-to-consumer sale of highly 
concentrated sodium nitrite that is helping fuel the efforts of 
anonymous suicide forum users pushing vulnerable people to end their 
lives.

  This bill is simple, it is straightforward, and it has the potential 
to save lives.
  That is why I am so grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle and in both Chambers who were instrumental in the drafting and 
advancement of this legislation, including Representative  Mike Carey 
who has been a tireless advocate for his constituents who have fallen 
victim to this poison, as well as Representatives Katie Porter and 
Celeste Maloy and Senators Tammy Duckworth and J.D. Vance.
  I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to join us in supporting 
this strong bipartisan legislation.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to support this bill. I 
think it is pretty obvious why this bill is so important.
  I want to thank the sponsor again, Mrs. Trahan, for bringing this up 
because it will save lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, this is a bipartisan bill. As far as I am 
concerned, it is a no-brainer. We need to get it over to the Senate as 
soon as possible to save lives.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, again, I encourage a ``yes'' vote on this 
particular bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4310.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________