[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 9 (Monday, March 6, 2000)]
[Page 393]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness 
Act

February 25, 2000

    Today I am pleased to sign a bipartisan bill that will help save 
lives by giving families immediate access to vital information about 
poison control. Each year, more than 2 million poisonings are reported 
to the Nation's poison control centers, and more than half of the 
victims are young children. The Poison Control Center Enhancement and 
Awareness Act authorizes $140 million over the next 5 years to fund the 
Nation's poison control centers, carry out a national media campaign, 
and establish a national toll-free telephone poison control hotline to 
give callers immediate information if there is an accident in the home. 
This new funding will help provide vital resources and information to 
inform the public about poison control and assist parents in protecting 
the health and safety of their children.

Note: S. 632, approved February 25, was assigned Public Law No. 106-174. 
A portion of the President's statement was also made available on the 
White House Press Office Actuality Line. This item was not received in 
time for publication in the appropriate issue.