Tobacco Documents Online

I ~==~.. .~. NEWS FROM SENATOR JOHN HEINZ SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING Senate Hart 628 Washington; D.C. 20510-6400 (202) 224-1467 7 October 1987 Isabelle Claxton (202)224-1467 STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN HEINZ (R-PA) INTRODUCTION OF FIRE SAFE CIGARETTE LEGISLATION Good morning. Four years ago Senator Cranston, Representative Moakley and I asked our colleagues in the Congress to move forward with legislation which could save thousands of lives and millions of dollars each year. We wanted a bill to develop and enforce manufacturing specifications for tobacco companies to reduce the risk of a cigarette igniting fabric. As Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, I had learned that cigarettes are the number one cause of fire deaths in this country.. In 1984, 67,000 cigarette-ignited fires resulted in 1,570 deaths, 7,000 serious injuries and $390 million in property damage. I am particularly concerned that older Americans are two to three times more likely than other age groups to die in home fires. For over two decades, fire safety efforts have focused on making mattresses and upholstery more flame-retardant. Both of these industries are to be applauded for their dedication to developing and applying life- saving standards. But until we make the cigarette itself less likely to start a fire, we've broken the match but not extinguished the flame. Our efforts in 1983 and early 1984 met with stiff opposition f rom the tobacco industry and its lobbying groups. Tobacco companies argued that having at least,two fire-safe cigarettes on the market did not prove that all cigarettes could be reasonably produced to meet safety standards. So*we engineered a compromise and in October 1984 mandated an inter-agency Committee to study the technical and.commercial feasibility of fire-safe cigarettes. That study is now complete. The government, industry and consumer experts who participated in this effort conclude that a fire-safe cigarette is indeed technologically feasible and can be, produced at "minimal" additional costs. I think we've paid a high price to prove the obvious. We've invested three years, lost almost 5,000 lives and over $1 billion in property for "official-confirmation" that a fire-safe cigarette can be manufactured and marketed at a cost that is "certainly less than the potential benefit to society." The legislation Congressman Moakley, Senator Cranston and I are introducing today is long overdue. All that now stands between the public and a fire-safe cigarette is the willingness of Congress to act. It is possible., profitable and prudent for the tobacco industry to support this effort and I would urge its full cooperation. We've mandated seat belts and safety standards for'cribs and highchairs. We require inspections for food purity and declarations for potential carcinogens. America is a health and safety-conscious nation. It-is unconscionable that we continue to ignore one of the greatest public threats of allV-- a lit cigarette with the potential to maim, kill and destroy. TITX 0035186 ' ~ .:.. . . . ~. < .. - . . . ^.-.. -. . - . . ~ . ..'. . .:: ..... ~:^ - _ _ .. :•S' ~ _