69–006 

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 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
2 

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 manufacVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:17 Oct 31, 2007 Jkt 069006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6621 E:\HR\OC\HR415.XXX HR415

hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
3 

turer 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. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
4 

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. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
5 

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. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
6 

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 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
7 

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; 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
8 

(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. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
9 

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.—


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
10 

(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. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
(11) 

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 govVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:49 Oct 31, 2007 Jkt 069006 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6604 Sfmt 6604 E:\HR\OC\HR415.XXX HR415

hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT
12 

ernment and this Committee through the passing of CJ’s Home 

Protection Act can continue to help them prepare. 

SPENCER BACHUS. 

Æ 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMRPT