[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17502]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY ON FIRESTONE/FORD TIRE RECALL

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, last week we had a hearing in Congress into 
the recent recall by Ford and Firestone of over 6 million tires. These 
tires have been attributed to hundreds of vehicle crashes and at least 
88 fatalities.
  Florida, my home State, is fourth in the number of crashes yet has 
the highest number of these fatalities, at 21.
  Just recently, I received a letter from a constituent whose son and 
his fiance were killed when their Ford Explorer crashed as a result of 
the rear tire tread separation. This is what the constituent wrote to 
me.
  ``Their deaths could have been prevented had Ford and Firestone taken 
action when they knew the potential for injury.''
  That is the purpose of our investigations here in Congress. When 
exactly did these companies know there was a problem, and why did they 
wait until this summer to initiate a recall?
  My constituents demand accountability.
  So, my colleagues, it is time to have additional hearings and to find 
out why these companies should stop the finger pointing at each other 
and give us the tough answers.

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