John Joseph Moakley: “I rise today to call your attention to the Justice Department's investigation into the possibility of an agreement…”

“I rise today to call your attention to the Justice Department's investigation into the possibility of an agreement amongst cigarette manufacturers to suppress product research and development on firesafe cigarettes. I commend the Justice Department for investigating whether the cigarette companies have had a gentlemen's agreement not to put these cigarettes into the marketplace. For 15 years I have been pushing for legislation calling for cigarettes that are less likely to cause fires. My previous bills have laid the groundwork for H.R. 3885, which requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate fire safety standards in 1 year and requires cigarette manufacturers to comply within another year. We can not afford further delays. Since I started working on this issue more than 20,000 people have been killed by cigarette-related fires and thousands more have been seriously injured. Many of the victims are innocent children. How does a mother tell a young boy he has to go through life seriously disfigured because the guy in the apartment next door fell asleep with a burning cigarette in his hand. Fires caused by carelessly discarded cigarettes can be prevented. The cigarette manufacturers are able to produce such cigarettes. In fact, there are five of these cigarettes already in the marketplace.”