At Joe Cohen's request, the parents of Graeme Baker have asked me to convey
to you the following concerning the death of their daughter by drowning by
entrapment on the drain of a neighbors spa.

"You can not imagine the enormous sorrow all of us in the Baker
family and our many friends have experienced from the loss of our beloved
Graeme at age 7. In a matter of moments her little body became so captured
by the drain in a neighbor's spa that two adults couldn't pull her free in
time to save her. She died needlessly, held below the surface of the water
by the power of the spa's suction pump, her presence disguised by the
bubbles and foam.

You may also imagine our despair at learning that:

1. Such an event is a far too common occurrence, annually taking the
lives of innocent children or causing them bowel evisceration or serious and
permanent brain injury .

2. The swimming pool and spa industry has been well aware of these
risks since the late 1970's. Their products are especially hazardous to
children. Since the 1980's there have been at least 147 entrapment incidents
documented, resulting in 36 deaths, 31 additional near-drownings (frequently
accompanied by brain damage from anoxia), and multiple cases of serious
injury, including disembowelments. The documentation under reports the
frequency of such incidents.

3. While some efforts have been made to reduce the incidence of these
injuries and deaths for newly constructed spas and pools, much remains to be
done to enhance their safety. More importantly, no significant or  effective
effort has been made to alert the owners of older pools and spas of these
risks and how to avoid them

Without action, these needless and senseless deaths and injuries will
continue.

On behalf of Graeme and in her memory, we pledge to do all within our power
to see that this industry meets its obligations to an unsuspecting public.
Her senseless and needless death should be a wake-up call for this industry
to accept its responsibility for all such deaths and injuries and be
accountable for the decades it has ignored its duties. We call on the
industry to promptly embark on a campaign to notify owners of existing spas
and pools, both across this nation and abroad, of the nature and extent of
the risks of body part entrapment and evisceration and the methods to employ
to avoid ALL such injuries and death. We additionally call on the industry
to work today for the adoption of adequate safety standards to ensure that
all new pools and spas will be safe for all of our children."

James A Baker, IV
and
Nancy T. Baker