Infant Crib Safety Act

Mr. President, today, I am proud to introduce the Freedom of Choice Act.

Thirty-one years ago, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe v. Wade. It was a monumental day for women because for the first time, a woman's right to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy was protected under the constitutional right to privacy. Roe v. Wade has kept women from being forced to continue pregnancies that could endanger their health or render them infertile. And for the past 31 years, countless lives have been saved by getting women out of back alleys and into safe, clean and legally protected facilities. That is why I have been fighting throughout my adult life to protect the right to choose.

However, women's reproductive rights are rapidly eroding. And anti- choice advocates make no secret that their ultimate goal is to overturn Roe v. Wade. With just a one-vote margin protecting Roe in the Supreme Court, we cannot afford to take these fundamental rights for granted. The threats we face to our right to choose are real and dangerous.

That is why I am introducing new Federal legislation that will protect a woman's right to choose. The Freedom of Choice Act of 2004 would establish a statutory right to choose within the same parameters articulated by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade. Under the bill, women would have the absolute right to choose whether to continue or terminate their pregnancies before fetal viability. The bill also supersedes any law, regulation or local ordinance that impinges on a woman's right to choose and prohibits federal and state governments from discriminating against women, who exercise their right to choose.

That means a poor woman cannot be denied the use of Medicaid if she chooses to have an abortion. That means that abortions cannot be prohibited at public hospitals, thus giving women more options. That means that we respect a woman's ability to make her own decision and don't force women to attend anti-choice propaganda lectures, which submit women to misleading information, the purpose of which is to discourage abortion. That means that women serving our country in the military overseas would be able to afford safe abortions that can be performed in a military hospital.

We need to take steps to secure our right to choose. Anti-choice is anti-woman and anti-equality, and it demonstrates a lack of respect for the intelligence and compassion that women possess.

I thank the 10 cosponsors of this legislation--Senators Lautenberg, Corzine, Murray, Clinton, Jeffords, Lieberman, Cantwell, Feinstein, Sarbanes and Mikulski--and I encourage all my colleagues to join this effort to write Roe v. Wade into Federal law.

Mr. President, I am introducing legislation, along with my good friend from New Jersey, Senator Lautenberg, to ensure that American taxpayers are given greater protection when the Defense Department seeks to procure property or services. The United States is spending billions of dollars in its military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and much of this money is going to private companies.

The purpose of this legislation is simple. It would ban companies under investigation for procurement abuse and possible criminal conduct from receiving no-bid defense contracts. By closing a loophole in current law, the Department of Defense would no longer be permitted to enter into contracts, through a process that does not ensure full and open competition, with contractors simultaneously being investigated by the Pentagon's Office of Inspector General. The legislation also provides that if the President chooses to waive the prohibition in the interest of national security, he must notify Congress with a full and public explanation.

While our men and women in the Armed Services are making extraordinary sacrifices for this country, companies under investigation by the Pentagon's Inspector General should be barred from lining their pockets with money from no-bid contracts.

Mr. President. I rise along with Senator Fitzgerald to reintroduce the Infant Crib Safety Act. This legislation is designed to reduce injuries and deaths that come from infant crib accidents.

Earch year, about 11,500 children ages 2 and under are injured in cribs seriously enough to require hospital treatment. Approximately, 26 children die a year from such injuries, the highest number of deaths caused by nursery-related products.

In fact, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, cribs cause more deaths than all other nursery items combined.

While strict guidelines exist on the manufacture of and sale of new cribs, there are millions of cribs sold throughout the U.S. in ``secondary markets'' such as thrift stores and resale furniture stores.

As many as half of the 4 million infants born in this country each year are placed in second hand cribs. Many of these used cribs are unsafe and should be taken off the market and either repaired or destroyed.

These used cribs can have dangerous features such as protruding corner post extensions, missing or broken parts, excessive slat width, poor fitting crib sheets, inadequate mattress supports, latches that do not prevent unintentional collapse of the crib. Cribs built before 1978 have a higher lead content than current regulations allow.

Let me give you some of the real life examples of the tragedies caused by unsafe cribs.

At the age of 23 months, Danny Lineweaver was injured during an attempt to climb out of his crib. Danny caught his shirt on a decorative knob on the cornerpost of his crib and hanged himself. Though his mother was able to perform CPR the moment she found him, Danny lived in a semi-comatose state for 9 years and died in 1993.

In another case, Luke Torgerson, a 13-month-old infant, died due to an unsafe crib at this daycare facility in Minnesota.

Parents should have confidence that a crib is a safe place to leave an infant. The design and construction of a baby crib must ensure that it is safe to leave an infant while sleeping.

Since cribs are the only juvenile product manufactured expressly for leaving a child unattended, every necessary measure should be taken to ensure that the crib is the safest possible environment.

The Infant Crib Safety Act keeps unsafe secondhand or hand-me-down cribs out of the stream of commerce by prohibiting their sale, resale, lease, and use in lodging facilities or day care centers.

This bill does not apply to individuals who provide cribs to their friends, or to any type of individual sale of a crib such as at a garage sale. The bill focuses on commercial users. And currently, controls over cribs provided by transient public lodging establishments or sold at thrift stores are non-existent.

Studies have shown that hotels and motels continue to use unsafe cribs and thrift stores continue to sell them. In the year 2000, the National Safe Kids Campaign did an investigation of cribs used by hotels and motels. Spot checks by the Campaign identified unsafe cribs in 80 percent of the cribs visited.

A year earlier, the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that 12 percent of the cribs sold in a survey of thrift stores did not meet existing voluntary industry or Federal safety standards for new cribs.

Comparable legislation has already been adopted by a number of States. Eleven States including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington have already passed legislation prohibiting the sale of cribs that do not meet current safety standards.

There is no good reason why cribs in all 50 States should not meet these reasonable safety standards.

The legislation is supported by the Consumer Federation of America and the Danny Foundation.

I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to turn this common-sense legislation into law.

Mr. President. I rise along with Senator Fitzgerald to reintroduce the Infant Crib Safety Act. This legislation is designed to reduce injuries and deaths that come from infant crib accidents.

Earch year, about 11,500 children ages 2 and under are injured in cribs seriously enough to require hospital treatment. Approximately, 26 children die a year from such injuries, the highest number of deaths caused by nursery-related products.

In fact, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, cribs cause more deaths than all other nursery items combined.

While strict guidelines exist on the manufacture of and sale of new cribs, there are millions of cribs sold throughout the U.S. in ``secondary markets'' such as thrift stores and resale furniture stores.

As many as half of the 4 million infants born in this country each year are placed in second hand cribs. Many of these used cribs are unsafe and should be taken off the market and either repaired or destroyed.

These used cribs can have dangerous features such as protruding corner post extensions, missing or broken parts, excessive slat width, poor fitting crib sheets, inadequate mattress supports, latches that do not prevent unintentional collapse of the crib. Cribs built before 1978 have a higher lead content than current regulations allow.

Let me give you some of the real life examples of the tragedies caused by unsafe cribs.

At the age of 23 months, Danny Lineweaver was injured during an attempt to climb out of his crib. Danny caught his shirt on a decorative knob on the cornerpost of his crib and hanged himself. Though his mother was able to perform CPR the moment she found him, Danny lived in a semi-comatose state for 9 years and died in 1993.

In another case, Luke Torgerson, a 13-month-old infant, died due to an unsafe crib at this daycare facility in Minnesota.

Parents should have confidence that a crib is a safe place to leave an infant. The design and construction of a baby crib must ensure that it is safe to leave an infant while sleeping.

Since cribs are the only juvenile product manufactured expressly for leaving a child unattended, every necessary measure should be taken to ensure that the crib is the safest possible environment.

The Infant Crib Safety Act keeps unsafe secondhand or hand-me-down cribs out of the stream of commerce by prohibiting their sale, resale, lease, and use in lodging facilities or day care centers.

This bill does not apply to individuals who provide cribs to their friends, or to any type of individual sale of a crib such as at a garage sale. The bill focuses on commercial users. And currently, controls over cribs provided by transient public lodging establishments or sold at thrift stores are non-existent.

Studies have shown that hotels and motels continue to use unsafe cribs and thrift stores continue to sell them. In the year 2000, the National Safe Kids Campaign did an investigation of cribs used by hotels and motels. Spot checks by the Campaign identified unsafe cribs in 80 percent of the cribs visited.

A year earlier, the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that 12 percent of the cribs sold in a survey of thrift stores did not meet existing voluntary industry or Federal safety standards for new cribs.

Comparable legislation has already been adopted by a number of States. Eleven States including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington have already passed legislation prohibiting the sale of cribs that do not meet current safety standards.

There is no good reason why cribs in all 50 States should not meet these reasonable safety standards.

The legislation is supported by the Consumer Federation of America and the Danny Foundation.

I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to turn this common-sense legislation into law.

Mr. President, recently we lost our colleague Paul Simon, a great public servant and a great friend.

At the age of 19, Paul Simon became the Nation's youngest editor- publisher when he accepted a Lion's Club challenge to save the Troy Tribune in Troy, IL. From that start, he built a chain of 13 newspapers in southern and central Illinois. He also used his post in the newspaper world to expose criminal activities and in 1951, at age 22, he was called as a key witness to testify before the U.S. Senate's Crime Investigating Committee.

Paul Simon served the state of Illinois and the United States for years. He is the only individual to have served in both the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. He also served as Lieutenant Governor for Illinois. In addition, he served in the U.S. Army.

Paul Simon highly valued education and the youth of our Nation. In addition to his work in Congress to strengthen public education in America, he started the public affairs reporting program at Sangamon State University, now the University of Illinois at Springfield. He later became the founder and director of the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL, and taught there for more than 6 years. In addition, Paul Simon wrote over 20 books and earned over 50 honorary degrees.

From journalism to government to education, Paul Simon set the standard for honesty and caring in public life. He was an unapologetic champion of the less fortunate. He was genuine in his politics, life and values.

Now those of us who loved and respected him will do our best to carry on his tradition. We will find many ways, great and small, to honor him.

Today, I am introducing companion legislation to a bill Congressman Jerry Costello has introduced in the House. This bill would designate the federal building at 250 West Cherry Street in Carbondale, IL, as the ``Senator Paul Simon Federal Building.'' I am happy to have Senator Fitzgerald as a cosponsor of this legislation.

Paul Simon moved to Carbondale in 1974, where he was elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He continued to call the Carbondale area his home until his death. Naming this building in Carbondale after him will help present and future generations remember and honor Paul Simon, a great man who lived in and worked for the people of Carbondale and served our federal government with the greatest integrity. I urge my colleagues to work with Congressman Costello and me to quickly pass this legislation.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to designate the United States courthouse and post office building at 93 Atocha Street in Ponce, Puerto Rico as the ``Luis A. Ferre Courthouse and Post Office Building.'' This legislation is meant to honor the distinguished life and career of Mr. Luis A. Ferre, a dedicated statesman and humanitarian of Puerto Rico.

Luis A. Ferre was born in 1904 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. During his remarkable career, Mr. Ferre was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Puerto Rico in 1951, a member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico from 1953-1956, Governor of Puerto Rico from 1969-1972, as well as the President of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1977-1980. Perhaps most remarkable, however, was his commitment to humanitarian and philanthropic activities, which included the founding of the Ponce Public Library and the Ponce Museum of Art.

In addition to serving the people of Puerto Rico, this building will stand as a reminder of the dedicated service Luis A. Ferre provided to all Puerto Ricans.

I am hopeful that my colleagues will join me in supporting this bill and that it will be enacted in the near future.