Expressing support for designation of June as "Home Safety Month".

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.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

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.

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.

Madam Speaker, I have no additional requests for speakers. I would like to inquire whether the minority has any additional speakers.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

(Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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 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.

As far as I know, I have one more additional speaker.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague and friend, Congressman Broun from Georgia.

Madam Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to be a consponsor of this of this legislation, which recognizes June as Home Safety Month.

I would like to thank Congresswoman Halvorson for her leadership in introducing this resolution and her commitment to the safety of America's homeowners.

At a time when we are encouraging homeowners to stay in their homes and increasing our efforts to spur new homeownership, we must also recognize the importance of ensuring the safety of homeowners within their homes.

Each year, 20,000 deaths and an average of 21 million medical visits result from unintentional injuries in the home, according to the Home Safety Council. The top five causes of unintentional home injury deaths include, falls, poisoning, fires or burns, choking or suffocation, and drowning. Such home injuries can cost employers up to $38 billion dollars a year.

Many of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented if homeowners were equipped with the knowledge of simple and inexpensive steps to reduce the injury of risk in each area of the home.

Furthermore, children and older adults have increased rates of unintentional home injury. We must encourage adults, parents, caregivers to take greater actions to reduce unintentional injuries to protect the most vulnerable family members.

H. Res. 543 encourages manufacturers to develop innovative safety products and features to help lessen home injuries and accidents and encourages all levels of government to support funding for critical home safety education programs to reduce the risks from home injuries.

I strongly support H. Res. 543 and cannot stress enough how home safety education and awareness can help saves lives and money.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this important resolution.

Parliamentary inquiry, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, we just voted on H. Res. 543. I voted present because I was confused. This indicates that we are designating June as Home Safety Month. By designating the month that just passed as Home Safety Month, would this be an ex post facto law that would be prohibited by the Constitution?

I understand it is confusing to you as well. But were we designating the month just passed as Home Safety Month?

Well, I thought the question mark on the end might have helped it become one. But anyway, I understand it is confusing to the Chair, so I guess no answer is an answer.