Annie Kuster: “I thank Representative Schakowsky for yielding. I want to say to Representative Long that I am so sorry for his loss…”

“I thank Representative Schakowsky for yielding. I want to say to Representative Long that I am so sorry for his loss, and, again, it is appropriate to be with him on the floor today. Mr. Speaker, more than 20 years ago, Cheryl and Todd Burt experienced an unimaginable tragedy when their two sons, Zachary and Nicholas, died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Zachary was 4 years old; Nicholas was only 16 months old. Cheryl, Todd, and their eldest son, Ryan, barely made it out of the home alive on that cold January evening. Today, the House is considering H.R. 1618, the Zachary and Nicholas Burt Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act. This legislation is named in honor of Zachary and Nicholas, but it is truly for the over 400 Americans who die each year and more than 20,000 who are hospitalized as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Among them are two of my constituents, John and April Courtney from Lyman, New Hampshire, who lost their lives to carbon monoxide poisoning just last February of this year. While it happens most frequently in cold winter months, carbon monoxide poisoning actually happens throughout this country.…”