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ICC eNews

Giving Credit to First Preventers

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) gave credit to code officials‚ America’s First Preventers‚ and the work they do to protect public health and safety while addressing delegates during the Opening Session. “Those of you in the protection and prevention business‚ I don’t think you always get the full credit that you deserve‚” Klobuchar said. “Your work as First Preventers is not well known because you’re working behind the scenes to make sure accidents don’t happen. I want you to know that I appreciate your mission and what you do with the International Code Council.”

Senator Klobuchar spoke on her attempts to focus on safety issues due to her background as a former chief prosecutor in Minnesota’s most populous county. She serves on the Senate Commerce Committee where she was one of the leading advocates for the federal lead standard for the consumer children products bill. She also serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee where she played a major role in the energy bill. The Senator emphasized that the idea of using building codes to get better environmental efficiency was at the top of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s agenda.

“I’m working to get the energy legislation passed in Congress,” said Senator Klobuchar. “I believe that building codes should be a major focus as we go forward with climate legislation and other energy-efficiency techniques.”

Senator Klobuchar spoke in length on the sudden collapse on August 1, 2007, of the eight-lane I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minnesota, which occurred during evening rush hour; killing 13 and wounding 145 people.

“Bridges should not fall down in the middle of America: not an eight-lane highway, not over the Mississippi river, not during rush hour, not just six blocks from my house, not on a road that I drive over every day with my daughter in the back seat like so many other parents that were on the bridge that day.”

Within days after the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, Senator Klobuchar introduced and succeeded in passing legislation to appropriate $250 million to the Minnesota Department of Transportation to quickly build a replacement bridge.

“I think that all of you, more than anyone, understand the need of having high safety standards on these types of public projects," Senator Klobuchar explained. “Every day, the American people go about their business trusting that the roads and bridges we drive on—and the buildings we live and work in—are safe and up to code. We expect that there are proper safety standards and we expect that someone is inspecting and enforcing them. The bridge disaster shocked America into the realization of how important it is to invest in safe infrastructure, and how important it is that safety standards are in place and that inspections are followed.”

Senator Klobuchar also focused pool, spa and hot tub safety issues due to her experience with both the Consumer Product Safety Commission in setting the standards for swimming pools, and her personal experience of with the family of six-year-old Abigail Taylor, who sustained serious internal injuries, and later died, from a swimming pool drain accident.

“When we looked at this, we found that this wasn't a unique incident,” Senator Klobuchar explained. “It happens to many children. Abigail left behind an important legacy to help protect other children in the future. The proudest moment I had was in December of last year when I called from the court room and told Scott [Taylor] that the legislation had passed and that the President was signing it into law.”

Senator Klobuchar finished by emphasizing, “I understand that these safety standards matter, and I applaud every one of you for the work you do every day to keep our communities safe. I'm devoted to the idea that we have to stay vigilant to ensure we have the best safety standards and dedicate enough resources to enforce those standards. If we have the right standards and we make the right investments and do the right things up front, we can save ourselves a whole lot of trouble and cost later on. That's what you're doing, and I thank you for your work.”