Press Releases

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (GA-01), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), and Don Bacon (NE-02) announced the formation of the bipartisan Children’s Safety Caucus. The caucus will work to find and promote solutions to dramatically reduce preventable childhood deaths and injuries.  

Avoidable injuries are the number one cause of child fatalities in the United States. In 2022, more than 9,000 families lost a child because of preventable injury. Nearly 5.6 million children are treated in emergency departments for injuries every year. 

“For my entire professional career, children’s safety has been a top priority. Kids can’t always protect themselves, so looking out for their best interests and creating a safer world is critical. In Florida, drowning prevention is central to this mission,” said Wasserman Schultz. “No tragedy cuts deeper to a parent than losing a child to a preventable death. That’s why I am extremely eager to launch the new, bipartisan Children’s Safety Caucus with my colleagues Buddy Carter, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Don Bacon. I look forward to collaborating to keep our kids safe with sensible outreach, education, and initiatives.”  

“As a proud father and grandfather, the protection of children is always at the front of my mind. Avoidable injuries remain the number one cause of child fatalities in the United States, and I am proud to join with my colleagues to create the Children’s Safety Caucus, as we work in a bipartisan fashion to protect America’s kids,” said Carter. “Thank you to Reps. Wasserman Schultz, Krishnamoorthi, and Bacon for joining me in this effort.”

“As a father and grandfather, I believe there is nothing more important than protecting our children. I'm pleased to help establish the bipartisan Children's Safety Caucus, where we'll work together to develop solutions that keep our kids safe,” said Bacon. “Every child deserves the opportunity to grow up in a safe environment, and this caucus will serve as a vital platform to advance solutions that protect our children.”

“As a father of three, nothing has driven me more in Congress than the mission to make the world safer for our children,” said Krishnamoorthi. “That’s why I’ve taken on Big Tobacco and other special interests by leading Congressional efforts against toxic metals in baby food, predatory vape companies targeting kids, and dangerous car seats. My investigation into booster seat safety led to the introduction of my Booster Seat Safety Act—legislation that applies the American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines for the seat and mandates that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration establish rigorous side-impact crash testing standards. I am proud to co-chair the Children's Safety Caucus to continue fighting for solutions that keep our children safe—whether it’s at home, at school, or on the road.”

The Children’s Safety Caucus will focus on issue areas like child passenger safety, water safety, and safe sleep issues.  An important goal for the caucus is to host meetings and forums throughout the Congressional session to highlight the need for bipartisan support for children’s safety issues. The caucus will update members of Congress and their staff on relevant legislation, best practices to better inform constituents, and host events to promote child safety. 

U.S. Statistics on children’s safety: 

Road

• 14 kids 12 and under die in motor vehicle crashes each week. Another 2,300 are injured in nonfatal crashes. 
• Properly used child car seats and booster seats reduce the risk of death by as much as 71%
• More than half of all car seats are not properly installed.
• Car Seat Technicians in every state are available to help parents, grandparents, and caregivers properly install their child’s car or booster seat!

Water

• Drowning is the leading cause of injury related death among children 1-4.
• It's the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children 19 and under.
• In 2018, there were 918 children under the age of 19 who drowned and over 7,000 more were seen in the emergency room.

Safe Sleep

• Unintentional suffocation is the leading cause of injury-related death among children under 1.
• Nearly 3,500 infants die each year in the U.S. from sleep related infant deaths.
• Causes of sleep-related infant deaths include suffocation, entrapment, strangulation, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

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