Washington, DC—Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Kids in
Danger, Union of Concerned Scientists and the U.S. Public Interest
Research Group applaud the Senate Commerce Committee for passing S.
2045, the CPSC Reform Act of 2007. This bill would give the Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the agency responsible for ensuring
the safety of over 15,000 products, greater authority and resources to
protect the public from unsafe products.
“This
bill is the most comprehensive and consumer protective product safety
legislation that has emerged from the Senate Commerce Committee in
decades,” stated Rachel Weintraub, Director of Product Safety for
Consumer Federation of America. “We applaud the Senate Commerce
Committee for choosing safety over special interests.”
“Today’s
unanimous Committee vote should send a clear message that safety won’t
be put on the back burner anymore. This is a big step in fixing an
under-funded and broken agency. By giving the CPSC more tools and
resources to protect our children and families from dangerous products,
it addresses a very real and urgent need,” said Donald Mays, Senior
Director, Product Safety Planning and Technical Administration.
“For
too long, CPSC’s been the little agency that couldn’t,” said Ed
Mierzwinski U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director. "The Senate Commerce
Committee today gave the agency some of the tools it needs to protect
all Americans, especially children, from dangerous imports and other
hazards,” added Mierzwinski.
“For the first time since
Danny’s death, we feel that the Senate is making real progress towards
protecting children from unsafe products,” stated Nancy Cowles,
Executive Director of Kids in Danger.
Consumer groups have
been working to ensure that the bill would be as protective of
consumers as possible. The bill passed out of the Senate Commerce
Committee today with many strengthening amendments supported by the
groups including, Internet and catalogue warning labels; product
registration cards to improve how consumers find out about recalls,
making toy safety standards mandatory, and improving whistleblower
protections.
“Whistleblower protections and a more active
Inspector General should send a strong signal to CPSC managers not to
distort the findings of agency staff or suppress their findings used to
protect the public's safety," said Francesca Grifo, director of the UCS
Scientific Integrity Program.
The CPSC Reform Act of 2007,
introduced by Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), and co-sponsored by Senators
Brown, Durbin, Klobuchar and Bill Nelson would require some children’s
products, including toys to be tested by independent labs and to be
certified to meet safety standards, make it illegal to sell a recalled
products, limit the levels of lead in toys and children’s jewelry to
low levels, improve CPSC’s ability to disclose safety information to
the public, and raise the cap on the agency’s penalties from $1.83
million to $100 million. It also includes provisions giving State
Attorneys General the ability to enforce CPSC regulations and includes
protections for individuals in companies and safety agencies who blow
the whistle on wrongdoing.
The groups applaud the leadership and
extraordinary effort of Senators Inouye Pryor, Bill Nelson, Klobuchar,
Boxer, McCaskill, Dorgan, Kerry, Snowe and Cantwell for working to
strengthen the provisions of S. 2045 and improve the ability of CPSC to
protect the public from unsafe products.
