Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 1796, the Residential Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act, sponsored by Representative Jim Matheson of Utah. Carbon monoxide poisoning kills more than 400 people each year and sends more than 20,000 people to hospital emergency rooms for treatment. Carbon monoxide can build up in your home in a furnace or some other fuel-burning appliance if it isn't functioning properly. What makes this gas particularly dangerous is that you can't see it or smell it. At least with a fire, you can see the flames, smell the smoke, or feel the heat. With carbon monoxide, in many cases, all you start to feel is flu-like symptoms. You have no idea you are facing something even more dangerous. But there is a simple and effective way to combat carbon monoxide poisoning: installing a carbon monoxide alarm in your home. H.R. 1796 takes two important steps to promote the use of carbon monoxide alarms in homes and other places: First, this legislation makes the voluntary industry standards for carbon monoxide alarms mandatory consumer product safety standards. This means these lifesaving devices will be required to meet these performance standards rather than allowing compliance to just be voluntary. If we are going to encourage the use of a safety device, then we must be sure that it meets and will continue to meet industry performance standards.…”