Date: 2007-05-01
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. public service is among the most noble and demanding of professions. and excellence in the delivery of public service helps to keep the city of Hollywood. Florida. strong and prosperous and a wonderful place in which to live and work. The effectiveness and efficiency of government depends. in large measure. on public employees whose task it is to provide. on a daily basis. a broad range of services of the quality required and expected by the public. Quite often the importance of the public service that is rendered by public employees and the exemplary manner of their performance are often forgotten or overlooked. Public employees and volunteers. through their commitment to excellence and diversity of skills. have made great contributions to the City of Hollywood in areas such as public safety. recreational activities. neighborhood revitalization. and the delivery of water. sewer. and solid waste services. . The City of Hollywood recognizes the contributions made by public employees as well as volunteers at all levels of city government and finds "it fitting to set aside a special time to honor and thank these dedicated individuals who perform such vital roles. Public Service Recognition Week is being celebrated from May 7 through May 13. 2007. and salutes approximately 1.700 City of Hollywood employees who devote their time and talents to public service and who "do Whatever it takes" to help citizens attain a high quality of life. and the numerous volunteers who contributed approximately 22.632 hours of volunteer service. To provide even better service to the public. the City of Hollywood has committed to an organizational cultural change to enhance customer service and employee involvement and has initiated this process through the employeeguided strategic plan created by Hollywood City Manager Cameron D. Benson. a wonderful man. I might add. With that said. Mr. Speaker. I am honored to pay tribute to the City of Hollywood. Florida. in its celebration of Public Service Recognition Week. Now. Mr. Speaker. additionally. I also rise today to recognize National Safe Kids Week. This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart as a mom with three young children. This year National Safe Kids Week will be held from April 28 through May 6. 2007. That is the week that we are in now. National Safe Kids Week is a joint partnership between Safe Kids Worldwide and its founding sponsor. Johnson & Johnson. This week of public education activities has been held annually for 19 years and draws muchneeded attention to accidental childhood injury. a leading killer of children 14 and under. This years National Safe Kids Weeks theme is "Make it a Safe Kids Summer." The start of summer is known by emergency personnel as "trauma season" since accidental deaths and serious injuries to children increase dramatically. An average of 17 children a day. or 2.143 children in total. died from May to August. 2004. due to injuries. many of which could have been prevented. Safe Kids Worldwide research indicates that five of the most common causes of childrens accidental injury deaths in summer are drowning. which increases 89 percent in the summer over the monthly annual average. biking. which increases 45 percent. falls. which increase 21 percent. motor vehicle passenger injuries. which increase 20 percent. pedestrian injuries. which increase 16 percent. In fact. almost 60 percent of total childrens accidental injury deaths from May to August from 2001 to 2004 came from these risk areas. Events led by Safe Kids coalitions are taking place in more than 300 communities across the Nation in order to educate parents and families about how to keep kids safe during the summer. especially when participating in these activities. As my home State of Florida. drowning prevention is an important concern of mine as a parent and as a legislator. In fact. drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injuryrelated death to children in the summer months in Florida. My most rewarding victory. Mr. Speaker. came from the passage of the Florida Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act. I was honored to sponsor this law as a State legislator. which has helped to save countless numbers of children from accidental injury and drowning in Florida pools. As the majority of drownings and near drownings occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites. I hope that more States work to address water safety in their communities. Recently I introduced similar Federal legislation here in the House of Representatives. My legislation. the Pool & Spa Safety Act. would provide grants to States that pass such comprehensive safety laws and also support drowning prevention educational programs. among other provisions. Along with my colleague Representative FRANK WOLF. we hope this bill will be passed before another "t.rauma season" occurs for our Nations children. I encourage my colleagues to lend it their support. I alsourge my colleagues to support National Safe Kids Week and to work with your State or local Safe Kids coalition to prevent these accidental injuries to children not only in the summer months butthroughout the year.