WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Representative King (R-NY) released the following statement applauding California’s passage of cigarette fire safety legislation and calling for the swift passage of H.R. 1850, legislation that Rep. Markey and Rep. King introduced to create a national standard based on the New York and California laws.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, introduced “the Cigarette Fire Safety Act of 2005,” a bill that will set a reasonable, national ignition standard for cigarettes. Currently, the tobacco industry produces two types of cigarettes: cigarettes which meet the New York State safety requirement for a “self-extinguishing” standard and cigarettes for the rest of the country. This bipartisan legislation introduced today will extend the protection of the New York standard to the rest of the country and help prevent an estimated 800 deaths, 2,200 injuries and nearly $560 million dollars in damages caused by cigarette ignited fires every year.