Senate Commerce Committee approves pool safety bill

(AP) The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously passed legislation Thursday aimed at improving pool safety, less than a month after the injury of a 6-year-old Minnesota girl at a wading pool.

The bill would ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that do not meet anti-entrapment safety standards.

The committee also approved an amendment by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., that would require existing public pools - not just new ones - to install safety equipment within one year.

On June 29, Abigail Taylor, of Edina, sat over an open drain hole in a wading pool at the Minneapolis Golf Club and had part of her intestinal tract torn out by the drain's powerful suction. She remained in serious condition at Children's Hospital on Thursday.

Klobuchar called the bill's passage "exciting and such good news for this family."

The Senate bill was introduced last week by Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Klobuchar said last month's incident likely contributed to the quick committee action.

"I think the Minnesota case moved the bill up," said Klobuchar, adding that she planned to talk to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., about a Senate vote.

The bill, which counts Klobuchar and Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., among its co-sponsors, also calls on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish a national education program on pool safety.

The bill, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, is named for the 7-year-old granddaughter of James Baker, the former secretary of state. The girl drowned at a graduation party five years ago, when the suction from a drain pinned her.

A similar bill in the House is expected to come up for a committee vote at the end of the month.