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[House Report 110-415]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    110-415

======================================================================

 
                    CJ'S HOME PROTECTION ACT OF 2007

                                _______
                                

October 30, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, from the Committee on Financial Services, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 2787]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 2787) to amend the National Manufactured Housing 
Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to require that 
weather radios be installed in all manufactured homes 
manufactured or sold in the United States, having considered 
the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and 
recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Amendment........................................................     2
Purpose and Summary..............................................     3
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     4
Hearings.........................................................     4
Committee Consideration..........................................     4
Committee Votes..................................................     4
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     5
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     5
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures     5
Committee Cost Estimate..........................................     5
Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................     5
Federal Mandates Statement.......................................     7
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     7
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     7
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................     7
Earmark Identification...........................................     7
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................     7
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     9
Additional Views.................................................    11

                               Amendment

  The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``CJ's Home Protection Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

  The Congress finds that--
          (1) nearly 20,000,000 Americans live in manufactured homes, 
        which often provide a more accessible and affordable way for 
        many families to buy their own homes;
          (2) manufactured housing plays a vital role in providing 
        housing for low- and moderate-income families in the United 
        States;
          (3) NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio 
        stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly 
        from a nearby National Weather Service (NWS) office, and 
        broadcasts NWS warnings, watches, forecasts, and other all-
        hazard information 24 hours a day;
          (4) the operators of manufactured housing communities should 
        be encouraged to provide a safe place of shelter for community 
        residents or a plan for the evacuation of community residents 
        to a safe place of shelter within a reasonable distance of the 
        community for use by community residents in times of severe 
        weather, including tornados and high winds, and local 
        municipalities should be encouraged to require approval of 
        these plans;
          (5) the operators of manufactured housing communities should 
        be encouraged to provide a written reminder semiannually to all 
        owners of manufactured homes in the manufactured housing 
        community to replace the batteries in their weather radios; and
          (6) weather radio manufacturers should include, in the 
        packaging of weather radios, a written reminder to replace the 
        batteries twice each year and written instructions on how to do 
        so.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARD.

  Section 604 of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and 
Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5403) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection:
  ``(i) Weather Radios.--
          ``(1) Construction and safety standard.--The Federal 
        manufactured home construction and safety standards established 
        by the Secretary under this section shall require that each 
        manufactured home delivered for sale shall be supplied with a 
        weather radio inside the manufactured home that--
                  ``(A) is capable of broadcasting emergency 
                information relating to local weather conditions;
                  ``(B) is equipped with a tone alarm;
                  ``(C) is equipped with Specific Alert Message 
                Encoding, or SAME technology; and
                  ``(D) complies with Consumer Electronics Association 
                (CEA) Standard 2009-A (or current revision thereof) 
                Performance Specification for Public Alert Receivers.
          ``(2) Liability protections.--
                  ``(A) No aspect of the function, operation, 
                performance, capabilities, or utilization of the 
                weather radio required under this subsection, or any 
                instructions related thereto, shall be subject to the 
                requirements of section 613 or 615 or any regulations 
                promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to the authority 
                under such sections.
                  ``(B) Manufacturers of manufactured homes, as such 
                term is defined in section 603, shall be immune from 
                common law civil liability for any aspect of the 
                function, operation, performance, capabilities, or 
                utilization of the weather radio receiver mandated by 
                the Federal manufactured home construction and safety 
                standard promulgated in accordance with this 
                subsection, including any instructions related thereto.
                  ``(C) Any reminder, assistance, or instructions 
                provided by the operator of a manufactured housing 
                community concerning the function of a weather radio 
                contained in a manufactured home shall not subject the 
                operator, an owner or employee of the manufactured home 
                community, or the manufacturer of the manufactured home 
                to liability for the functionality of that weather 
                radio.''.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT.

  Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the consensus committee established 
pursuant to section 604(a)(3) of the National Manufactured Housing 
Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(a)(3)) 
shall develop and submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development a proposed Federal manufactured home construction and 
safety standard required under section 604(i) of such Act (as added by 
the amendment made by section 3 of this Act). Notwithstanding section 
604(a)(5)(B) of such Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development shall issue a final order promulgating the standard 
required by such section 604(i) not later than the expiration of the 
90-day period beginning upon receipt by the Secretary of the proposed 
standard developed and submitted by the consensus committee.

SEC. 5. STUDY.

  The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall conduct a study 
regarding conditioning the applicability of the requirement under the 
amendment made by section 3 of this Act (relating to supplying weather 
radios in manufactured homes) on the geographic location at which a 
manufactured home is placed, but only to the extent that such 
requirement applies to new manufactured homes and new site-built homes. 
In conducting such study and making determinations under the study, the 
Secretary shall take into consideration severe weather conditions, such 
as high winds and flooding, and wind zones and other severe weather 
data available from the National Weather Service. Not later than the 
expiration of the 18-month period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete the study and 
submit a report regarding the results of the study to the Committee on 
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and to the Committee 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 2787, ``CJ's Home Protection Act of 2007,'' requires 
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (``HUD'') to 
promulgate a new construction and safety standard requiring the 
installation of weather radios in manufactured homes.
    The bill amends the Manufactured Housing Construction and 
Safety Standards Act of 1974 to require weather radios be 
installed in all manufactured homes manufactured or sold in the 
U.S. The standard, to be established by the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development upon recommendation of the 
Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee, will require each 
manufactured home delivered for sale to be supplied with a 
weather radio. These weather radios must be:
           Capable of broadcasting emergency 
        information relating to local weather conditions;
           Equipped with a tone alarm;
           Equipped with Specific Alert Message 
        Encoding, or SAME technology;
           Comply with Consumer Electronics Association 
        (CEA) Standard 2009-A Performance Specification for 
        Public Alert Receivers.
    The bill also includes liability protection for mobile home 
manufacturers, mobile home community operators, owners and 
employees. It states that any reminder, assistance, or 
instructions provided by an operator of a mobile home community 
concerning the function of a weather radio contained in a 
manufactured home will not subject the operator, an owner or 
employee of the mobile home community, or the mobile home 
manufacturer to liability for the functionality of the weather 
radio.
    During markup of the legislation Chairman Frank offered a 
manager's amendment, which passed by voice vote. The manager's 
amendment changed the bill in four ways: (1) the findings in 
the bill were amended to encourage the operators of 
manufactured housing communities to provide a safe place of 
shelter and plan of evacuation for manufactured housing 
community residents, and encourages semiannual replacement of 
batteries in the weather radios; (2) liability protections were 
clarified for manufacturers of manufactured housing regarding 
the radios; (3) requiring the Manufactured Housing Consensus 
Committee to develop the rule for requiring the radios pursuant 
to the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety 
Standards Act within 90 days, and requires the HUD Secretary to 
issue a final order promulgating the new standard not later 
than 90 days after receiving the rule from the Consensus 
Committee; and (4) requiring HUD to conduct a study regarding 
the conditioning and applicability of the weather radio 
requirement to certain geographic locations at which 
manufactured homes are placed.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    H.R. 2787, CJ's Home Protection Act of 2007, represents a 
consensus forged by the bill's sponsors and the manufactured 
housing industry to promulgate a new HUD safety standard for 
the installation of NOAA weather radios in manufactured homes.
    On November 6, 2005, Mr. Ellsworth's congressional district 
was hit by a tornado that destroyed the Eastbrook Mobile Home 
Park community in Evansville, Indiana. The tornado killed 19 
people, including two-year-old CJ Martine for whom this 
legislation is named, and wounding hundreds of other residents. 
The storm struck at 2 a.m. and the majority of Eastbrook 
residents were asleep and unable to respond to the tornado 
warnings issued in advance by NOAA's National Weather Service. 
CJ's family and Mr. Ellsworth have worked closely with the 
manufactured housing industry to develop this legislation to 
provide early warning systems within homes with the hope of 
preventing future death and injury from such storms.

                                Hearings

    No hearings were held on this legislation in the 110th 
Congress.

                        Committee Consideration

    The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on 
September 18, 2007, and ordered H.R. 2787, CJ's Home Protection 
Act of 2007, as amended, reported by a voice vote.

                            Committee Votes

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes 
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. No 
record votes were taken in conjunction with the consideration 
of this legislation. A motion by Mr. Frank to report the bill, 
as amended, to the House with a favorable recommendation was 
agreed to by a voice vote.
    During the consideration of the bill, the following 
amendment was considered:
    An amendment by Mr. Frank, No. 1, a manager's amendment 
making various technical and substantive changes, was agreed to 
by a voice vote.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee has held hearings and 
made findings that are reflected in this report.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee establishes the 
following performance related goals and objectives for this 
legislation:
    H.R. 2787, ``CJ's Home Protection Act of 2007,'' requires 
HUD to promulgate a new construction and safety standard 
requiring the installation of weather radios in manufactured 
homes with the goal of making residents living in such homes 
safer from injury resulting from destruction of the home caused 
by violent wind.

   New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its 
own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement 
authority, or tax expenditures or revenues contained in the 
cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional 
Budget Act.

                        Committee Cost Estimate

    The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared 
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to 
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                  Congressional Budget Office Estimate

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:
                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 27, 2007.
Hon. Barney Frank,
Chairman, Committee on Financial Services,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2787, the CJ's 
Home Protection Act of 2007.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Susan Willie.
            Sincerely,
                                           Peter R. Orszag,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2787--CJ's Home Protection Act of 2007

    H.R. 2787 would require the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development (HUD) to issue a new standard requiring that each 
manufactured home delivered for sale be supplied with a weather 
radio that meets certain performance specifications and can 
receive broadcasts of emergency information related to local 
weather conditions. Under current law, a committee representing 
both producers and users of manufactured housing makes 
recommendations to HUD on regulations concerning such homes. 
H.R. 2787 would require the committee to develop a proposed 
standard meeting the requirements specified in the bill; HUD 
would be required to finalize the standard within 90 days of 
receiving that proposal. The bill also would require HUD to 
prepare a report to the Congress that examines whether the 
requirement to provide weather radios in new manufactured homes 
should be limited to homes located in specific geographic 
areas.
    Under current law, HUD monitors and enforces manufactured 
home safety standards through a joint federal and state program 
funded by inspection fees paid by builders of the manufactured 
homes. Such fees are recorded on the budget as discretionary 
offsetting collections and may be spent subject to provisions 
in appropriation acts. Based on information from HUD, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 2787 would have no significant 
net effect on spending subject to appropriation in any year. 
Enacting H.R. 2787 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues.
    The bill's requirement that each manufactured home 
delivered for sale be equipped with a weather radio would 
extend an existing preemption of state and local authority that 
prohibits state and local governments from establishing, or 
continuing in effect, laws regarding the safety of manufactured 
homes if those standards are not identical to the federal 
standards. CBO has identified safety standards for manufactured 
homes in at least one state that are similar but not identical 
to the requirements in H.R. 2787. Preempting such state laws is 
an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). However, because the preemption 
would simply prohibit the application of state law, CBO 
estimates that the mandate would impose no significant costs on 
state, local, or tribal governments and would be well below the 
threshold established by UMRA ($66 million in 2007, adjusted 
annually for inflation).
    H.R. 2787 would impose a private-sector mandate, as defined 
in UMRA, on manufacturers of manufactured housing, The bill 
would require all manufactured homes delivered for sale to be 
supplied with weather radios equipped with a tone alarm and 
specific alert message encoding, and in compliance with the 
Consumer Electronics Association's performance standards for 
public alert receivers. Based on information from industry 
sources, the cost of such radio equipment could amount to $30 
per radio and up to $50 when including the overhead costs 
associated with supplying each radio, such as storage, shipment 
fees, and taxes. According to information from HUD, 
approximately 100,000 manufactured homes are expected to be 
sold in 2008. That number is expected to decrease in subsequent 
years if the current trend in sales of manufactured homes 
continues. Consequently, CBO expects that the direct cost of 
the mandate would fall below the annual threshold established 
by UMRA for private-sector mandates ($131 million in 2007, 
adjusted annually for inflation).
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Susan Willie 
(for federal costs), Lisa Ramirez-Branum (for the state and 
local impact), and MarDestinee Perez (for the private-sector 
impact). This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                       Federal Mandates Statement

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the 
Constitutional Authority of Congress to enact this legislation 
is provided by Article 1, section 8, clause 1 (relating to the 
general welfare of the United States) and clause 3 (relating to 
the power to regulate interstate commerce).

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

                         Earmark Identification

    H.R. 2787 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9 of rule XXI.

             Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation

Section 1--Short title

    CJ's Home Protection Act of 2007.

Section 2--Congressional findings

    The Congress finds that--
          (1) Nearly 20,000,000 Americans live in manufactured 
        homes, which often provide a more accessible and 
        affordable way for many families to buy their own 
        homes;
          (2) Manufactured housing plays a vital role in 
        providing housing for low- and moderate-income families 
        in the United States;
          (3) NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network 
        of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather 
        information directly from a nearby National Weather 
        Service (NWS) office, and broadcasts NWS warnings, 
        watches, forecasts, and other all hazard information 24 
        hours a day;
          (4) the operators of manufactured housing communities 
        should be encouraged to provide a safe place of shelter 
        for community residents or a plan for the evacuation of 
        community residents to a safe place of shelter within a 
        reasonable distance of the community for use by 
        community residents in times of severe weather, 
        including tornados and high winds, and local 
        municipalities should be encouraged to require approval 
        of these plans;
          (5) the operators of manufactured housing communities 
        should be encouraged to provide a written reminder 
        semiannually to all owners of manufactured homes in the 
        manufactured housing community to replace the batteries 
        in their weather radios; and
          (6) Weather radio manufacturers should include, in 
        the packaging of weather radios, a written reminder to 
        replace the batteries twice each year and written 
        instructions on how to do so.

Section 3--Federal manufactured home construction and safety standard

    This section amends the Manufactured Housing Construction 
and Safety Standards Act of 1974 by directing the Secretary of 
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to 
require that each manufactured home delivered for sale be 
supplied with a weather radio inside the manufactured home. 
These weather radios shall meet the following standards:
           Capable of broadcasting emergency 
        information relating to local weather conditions;
           Equipped with a tone alarm;
           Equipped with Specific Alert Message 
        Encoding, or SAME technology;
           Comply with Consumer Electronics Association 
        (CEA) Standard 2009-A Performance Specification for 
        Public Alert Receivers.
    This section also establishes liability protections for 
manufacturers of manufactured homes and manufactured housing 
community operators, owners, and employees. No aspect of the 
function, operation, performance, capabilities, or utilization 
of the weather radio shall subject the manufacturer of 
manufactured homes to common law civil liability. This section 
also states that any reminder, assistance, or instructions 
provided by an operator of a manufactured home community 
concerning the function of a weather radio contained in a 
manufactured home will not subject the operator, an owner or 
employee of the manufactured home community to liability for 
the functionality of the weather radio.

Section 4--Establishment

    This section establishes that within 90-days of enactment 
of this act, the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee shall 
develop and submit to the Secretary of HUD a proposed 
manufactured housing construction and safety standard requiring 
that each manufactured home delivered for sale shall be 
supplied with a weather radio inside the manufactured home. The 
Secretary of HUD must issue the final order promulgating this 
standard within 90-days upon receipt of the proposed standard 
from the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee.

Section 5--Study

    This section directs the Secretary of HUD to conduct a 
study on the applicability of the weather radio requirement to 
certain geographic locations at which manufactured homes are 
placed. The Secretary should take into consideration severe 
weather conditions, such as high winds and flooding, and wind 
zones and other severe weather data available from the National 
Weather Service. This study is to be conducted no later than 
18-months after the enactment of this act and shall be 
submitted to the Committee on Financial Services of the House 
of Representatives and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs of the Senate.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italics and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

   SECTION 604 OF THE NATIONAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING CONSTRUCTION AND 
                      SAFETY STANDARDS ACT OF 1974

      federal manufactured home construction and safety standards

      Sec. 604. (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (i) Weather Radios.--
          (1) Construction and safety standard.--The Federal 
        manufactured home construction and safety standards 
        established by the Secretary under this section shall 
        require that each manufactured home delivered for sale 
        shall be supplied with a weather radio inside the 
        manufactured home that--
                  (A) is capable of broadcasting emergency 
                information relating to local weather 
                conditions;
                  (B) is equipped with a tone alarm;
                  (C) is equipped with Specific Alert Message 
                Encoding, or SAME technology; and
                  (D) complies with Consumer Electronics 
                Association (CEA) Standard 2009-A (or current 
                revision thereof) Performance Specification for 
                Public Alert Receivers.
          (2) Liability protections.--
                  (A) No aspect of the function, operation, 
                performance, capabilities, or utilization of 
                the weather radio required under this 
                subsection, or any instructions related 
                thereto, shall be subject to the requirements 
                of section 613 or 615 or any regulations 
                promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to the 
                authority under such sections.
                  (B) Manufacturers of manufactured homes, as 
                such term is defined in section 603, shall be 
                immune from common law civil liability for any 
                aspect of the function, operation, performance, 
                capabilities, or utilization of the weather 
                radio receiver mandated by the Federal 
                manufactured home construction and safety 
                standard promulgated in accordance with this 
                subsection, including any instructions related 
                thereto.
                  (C) Any reminder, assistance, or instructions 
                provided by the operator of a manufactured 
                housing community concerning the function of a 
                weather radio contained in a manufactured home 
                shall not subject the operator, an owner or 
                employee of the manufactured home community, or 
                the manufacturer of the manufactured home to 
                liability for the functionality of that weather 
                radio.

           ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF RANKING MEMBER SPENCER BACHUS

    H.R. 2787, ``CJ's Home Protection Act,'' is a bipartisan 
bill which amends the Manufactured Housing Construction and 
Safety Standards Act of 1974 by requiring the installation of 
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather 
radios in all manufactured homes built or sold in the United 
States. These weather radios will provide immediate broadcasts 
of severe weather warnings and civil emergency messages, 
including tornado and flood warnings, AMBER alerts for child 
abductions, and chemical spill notifications.
    The legislation is named in memory of CJ Martin, a two year 
old boy who was killed during a tornado in southwest Indiana in 
2005. His mother, Kathryn, helped pass a state law requiring 
the manufactured housing industry to install NOAA weather 
radios in all newly built units and has been a strong advocate 
of federal legislation to accomplish the same objective.
    Despite rapid advances in tornado warning technologies, 
residents of manufactured housing communities often do not have 
adequate access to proper shelter. That is why I introduced 
H.R. 23, the Tornado Shelters Act, which was signed into law in 
2003. That bipartisan legislation authorized communities to use 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to construct or 
improve tornado-safe shelters located in manufactured housing 
parks. Unfortunately, this program is not used nearly often 
enough.
    H.R. 2787 represents the final link in protecting families 
and residents in these communities. Weather radios will get 
warnings out to those who need to hear them, sometimes as much 
as a half hour or more before a severe storm arrives. We have 
the ability to build shelters. Now we are going to give 
residents an opportunity to hear these warnings earlier so they 
can take shelter from the storm. The cost of installing these 
radios is very small. This is going to save lives. It is going 
to save families.
    Every year, approximately 800 tornadoes sweep across the 
United States, resulting in an average of 80 deaths, more than 
1,500 injuries, and millions of dollars in property damage. One 
of nature's most powerful and violent storms, large tornadoes 
often record wind speeds in excess of 250 miles per hour. 
Natural catastrophes can often strike with little warning, 
forcing communities to confront a loss of infrastructure, and, 
unfortunately, a loss of life. In my home state of Alabama in 
early March, eight people were killed, including students, when 
a powerful tornado ripped through a high school.
    Often in the face of a tornado threat it is said we can do 
two things--pray and prepare. Pray it won't happen again and 
prepare for the next line of twisters. While our citizens can 
pray, our government and this Committee through the passing of 
CJ's Home Protection Act can continue to help them prepare.

                                   Spencer Bachus.

                                  
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