[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17690-17692]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SUPPORTING HOME SAFETY MONTH

  Mrs. HALVORSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the resolution (H. Res. 543) expressing support for designation of June 
as ``Home Safety Month''.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 543

       Whereas unintentional injuries in the home result in nearly 
     20,000 deaths and 21,000,000 medical visits on average each 
     year;
       Whereas the top 5 causes of unintentional home injury 
     deaths are falls, poisoning, fires/burns, choking/
     suffocation, and drowning/submersion;
       Whereas falls are the leading cause of home injury death 
     among older adults in the United States, and the total direct 
     costs associated with both fatal and non-fatal falls is more 
     than $19,000,000,000 annually for hospitalization, emergency 
     department visits, and outpatient care;
       Whereas poisonings are the second leading cause of home 
     injury death in the United States, resulting in nearly 5,000 
     deaths per year;
       Whereas fire and burn injuries are the third leading cause 
     of home injury death and almost two-thirds (65 percent) of 
     reported home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with 
     no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms;
       Whereas deaths due to unintentional choking and suffocation 
     injuries are the fourth leading cause of home injury death in 
     the United States and nearly 25 percent of all choking and 
     suffocation deaths occur in the home;
       Whereas deaths due to drowning are the fifth leading cause 
     of home injury death in the United States and an average of 
     more than 10,000 events occur in the home each year that 
     require medical care, emergency department treatment, and 
     result in days away from work or school;
       Whereas children and older adults have increased rates of 
     unintentional home injury, compared with all other age 
     groups;
       Whereas citizens are encouraged to take a hands-on approach 
     to home safety and become aware of the simple and inexpensive 
     steps they can take to reduce the risk of injury in each area 
     of the home; and
       Whereas June would be an appropriate month to designate as 
     ``Home Safety Month'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) supports the designation of ``Home Safety Month'';
       (2) recognizes the contributions of home safety related 
     nonprofit organizations for their ongoing commitment to 
     ensuring families remain safe in their homes;
       (3) recognizes the contributions made by the Home Safety 
     Council to the efforts of ``Home Safety Month'' for recently 
     introducing a new and innovative online tool to help adults 
     identify the dangers present in and around the home, 
     designated as www.MySafeHome.org, and for promoting the Hands 
     on Home Safety Campaign, whose goal is to educate and empower 
     both families and businesses to take simple actions that will 
     make homes safe and minimize their risk for potential 
     injuries, or even death;
       (4) encourages adults, parents, and caregivers to take 
     greater actions to reduce unintentional injuries and educate 
     themselves on the importance of home safety, for themselves 
     and their loved ones;
       (5) encourages manufacturers to develop innovative safety 
     products and features to help lessen the number of home 
     injuries and accidents; and
       (6) encourages local and national government leaders to 
     support funding for critical home safety education programs 
     to reduce the risks from home injuries.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Halvorson) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. HALVORSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. HALVORSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Unintentional injuries in the home result in nearly 200,000 deaths 
and 21 million medical visits on average each year. The top five causes 
of unintentional home injury deaths are falls, poisonings, fires and 
burns, choking and suffocation, and finally, drowning.
  Falls are the leading cause of home injury death among older adults 
in the United States, and the total direct costs associated with both 
fatal and nonfatal falls is more than $19 billion annually for 
hospitalization, emergency department visits, and outpatient care.
  Poisonings are the second leading cause of home injury deaths in the 
United States, resulting in nearly 5,000 deaths per year. Fire and burn 
injuries are the third leading cause of home injury death, and almost 
two-thirds, or 65 percent, of reported home fire deaths resulted from 
fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
  Deaths due to unintentional choking and suffocation injuries are the 
fourth leading cause of home injury death in the United States, and 
nearly 25 percent of all choking and suffocation deaths occur in the 
home.

                              {time}  1600

  Deaths due to drowning are the fifth leading cause of home injury 
death in the United States, and an average of more than 10,000 events 
occur in the home each year that require medical care, emergency 
department treatment, and/or result in days away from work and/or 
school.
  Children and older adults have increased rates of unintentional home 
injury compared with all other age groups. Home Safety Month recognizes 
the contribution of home safety-related nonprofit organizations for 
their ongoing commitment to ensuring families remain safe in their 
homes.
  As part of Home Safety Month, the Home Safety Council recently 
introduced a new and innovative online tool to help adults identify the 
dangers present in and around the home designated as 
www.mysafehome.org. Additionally, the Home Safety Council is also 
promoting the Hands on Home Safety campaign, whose goal is to educate 
and empower families, businesses and community leaders to take simple 
actions that will make homes safe and minimize their risk from 
potential injuries or even death.
  This resolution encourages adults, parents and caregivers to take 
greater actions to reduce unintentional injuries and educate themselves 
on the importance of home safety for themselves and their loved ones. 
At the same time, it also encourages manufacturers to develop 
innovative safety projects and features to help lessen the numbers of 
home injuries and accidents, and finally encourages local and national 
government leaders to support funding for critical home safety 
education programs to reduce the risks from home injuries.
  With that, Madam Speaker, I encourage the passage of this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I am pleased and honored to be joining my colleague, 
Congresswoman Halvorson from the great State of Illinois, in speaking 
for and managing the minority side in this debate.
  I rise today in support of House Resolution 543, expressing support 
for the

[[Page 17691]]

designation of June as ``Home Safety Month.'' There have been recent 
stories that because of the economic downturn, many people are being 
driven to home repairs. I just put up two shades in the townhouse last 
night, and I probably can guarantee you that I didn't do it in the 
safest manner possible.
  This is a simple resolution to again call upon the public to 
understand the dangers inherent around the home and to provide 
information using a tool available to help them identify areas around 
the home and what they can do to make their home more safe.
  Each year there are nearly 20,000 deaths and 21 million medical 
visits caused by unintentional falls, people being poisoned, skin burns 
due to fires, choking hazards and drowning. Unfortunately, most of 
these hazards occur to the most vulnerable age groups, children and 
older adults. I encourage the adults, caregivers and parents to educate 
themselves on the importance of home safety for themselves and their 
loved ones.
  I would like to express my gratitude to the Home Safety Council for 
their innovative online tool that helps adults identify the dangers 
that may exist in the home, and I also encourage others to look into 
the Hands on Home Safety campaign which was identi-
fied by my colleague, www.my
safehome.org. The Web site has made great efforts to educate families 
and businesses on how to avoid potential risks and injuries. I probably 
should have looked at that Web site before I attempted my little home 
repair last night.
  I would like to thank the author, again, for this resolution, Mrs. 
Debbie Halvorson of Illinois, for her leadership in helping Americans' 
well-being and addressing the safety in their homes. I encourage all my 
colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. HALVORSON. Madam Speaker, I have no additional requests for 
speakers. I would like to inquire whether the minority has any 
additional speakers.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. As far as I know, I have one more additional speaker.
  Mrs. HALVORSON. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my 
colleague and friend, Congressman Broun from Georgia.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I'm a physician, and I'm concerned about what goes on in people's 
homes and the safety in those homes. And I commend the sponsor of this 
bill for introducing it here before the House.
  I think the American people are more concerned about other things now 
than just home safety. That is certainly everyone's concern, but I 
think their economic concerns are extremely important to the American 
people also, Madam Speaker. I also believe that energy independence is 
of extreme concern to the American people too. Republicans have offered 
alternatives to the tax-and-cap bill that this House passed just a 
couple of weeks ago. It is over in the Senate. In my opinion, it should 
die over there.
  The American people must stand up and understand how this is going to 
increase the cost of not only their energy sources, but it is going to 
increase the cost of everything that they buy. Out of every dollar that 
they spend, some of it is going to come to the Federal Government in 
the nature of an increased energy tax which is going to be disastrous.
  We on the Republican side have introduced legislation that would make 
America independent. But that bill has not seen the light of day on the 
floor of this House. Why is that? It is because the Democratic majority 
and the leadership will not allow that to happen. I think if that bill 
were to come to the floor of the House of Representatives, and the 
American people were to see it, we would pass it. But if we passed it 
over this huge energy tax that is in the tax-and-cap bill, then the 
revenue would not be available to pay for the health care bill. The 
President recently said he needed that revenue to pay for the health 
care bill that he has promoted and that is being introduced this week 
in the House of Representatives, ``Obama Care.''
  And Obama Care, as a physician, I can tell you is going to be 
disastrous for my colleagues and me and for our patients because it is 
going to insert a Washington bureaucrat between the doctor and the 
patient, and that Washington bureaucrat is going to be making health 
care decisions. It is going to be extremely expensive.
  Just last night, I held a tele-town hall meeting and asked a question 
of the people on the line about what concerns them about this Obama 
Care program that is being proposed by the Democrat majority. 
Overwhelmingly, they were concerned about the cost, as well as 
Washington bureaucrats inserting themselves in health care decisions. 
They were overwhelmingly concerned about the taxes that are going to go 
up for everybody in this country.
  There are a lot of tax increases that we already know are going to be 
in this bill because we have seen the draft. We understand we are going 
to have the bill today in final form, at least the final form before 
all the manager's amendments and before markups are done.
  We have a lot of things going on here that the American people need 
to understand are going to be disastrous for them, for their health 
care and for their economy. It is going to hurt people. It is going to 
hurt people because the economy is going to fall just like we are 
concerned about falls and other things in our home and home safety.
  Our grandchildren are going to live at a lower standard than we live 
today if we keep passing these bills. We have got unprecedented debt. 
We have got unprecedented deficits. Right now, the most abused credit 
card in this country today is this card, the voting card that Members 
of Congress use. This is a credit card that the Chinese are picking up 
the debt that we are creating with the use of this card.
  Madam Speaker, we have to stop this egregious, outrageous spending 
that this Congress is doing. It is going to kill the American economy. 
It is going to destroy the health care system that is being proposed in 
this health care bill that is being presented today. We have got to 
stop it, Madam Speaker. So it is not just about home safety. It is 
about economic well being. It is about our children's future.
  Madam Speaker, it just grieves me to see the direction that this 
country is going. It grieves me to know what my two grandchildren that 
I have now are going to have to face in the way of paying back the debt 
that we cannot pay, my children can't pay and that my grandchildren and 
their children probably are going to have a hard time paying too.
  So, Madam Speaker, we are heading in a bad, bad direction. The 
American people need to stand up and understand what is going on and 
say ``no'' to Obama Care, ``no'' to tax-and-cap, the so-called ``cap-
and-trade'' bill, and ``no'' to all of this increased debt and 
increased deficits which are going to take away jobs that we have 
already seen in tremendous job losses, take away jobs, and it is going 
to ruin the economy.
  Mrs. HALVORSON. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. HALVORSON. Madam Speaker, first I would like to thank my 
colleague from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for helping today with this bill. 
We in Illinois do a lot of things in a bipartisan way, and I just want 
to give him another thanks for helping out and for bringing awareness 
to home safety issues which are important to all of us. It is a topic 
that could save people money and their health given the ability that 
they always have to be aware of things so we can prevent accidents in 
our home.
  Each year an average of more than 7,000 adults aged 65 and older die 
from unintentional home injuries. Falls alone account for 52.5 percent 
of all home injury deaths for adults aged 65 to 74.
  With this, Madam Speaker, I just encourage everybody to support this 
and to bring about awareness to Home Safety Month.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Lee of California). The question is on 
the

[[Page 17692]]

motion offered by the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Halvorson) that 
the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 543.
  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. BROUN of Georgia. Madam 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 and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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