Conference Report On H.R. 4040, Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act Of 2008

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, as a conferee on this bill, I proudly rise to support the conference report to H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

When we began this process of reforming the Consumer Product Safety Commission over a year ago, I set out one goal, to ensure that the toys and products I buy for my grandchildren are safe. I am pleased to say that the conference report we are considering today fulfills that goal for all of America's children.

H.R. 4040 is legislation that every Member of Congress can be proud to support. It is a product of bipartisan negotiation and compromise. I, too, want to thank our esteemed chairman, JOHN DINGELL, for shepherding us through this process, as well as ranking member JOE BARTON, my fellow conferees, and all of the staff and consumer advocates that worked so hard on this bill.

I also want to thank our Senate counterparts. Chairing the conference was Senator Inouye, and the key author of the Senate companion bill was Senator MARK PRYOR of Arkansas. They both deserve the gratitude of the House, especially if they pass this bill this week.

I am especially thrilled, however, to welcome back to Washington my friend and chairman of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee and chief sponsor of this bill, Congressman BOBBY RUSH. You have been deeply missed, and I'm so happy to have you back on this momentous occasion which you have made more momentous.

With this conference report, Congress is breathing new needed life into the CPSC. For the first time, we are virtually banning lead in children's products as well as the harmful phthalates that can cause hormonal damage. We're improving the CPSC's enforcement authority and maintaining the authority of State attorneys general to ensure that the products sold in their States comply with the law. And we are providing consumers with a publicly searchable incident database that will allow them to report hazards to one another.

There are three provisions I am particularly proud to have authored in this conference report.

The first is language directing the CPSC to devise mandatory safety standards for infant and toddler durable products. Those are the things that are in every nursery: cribs, high chairs, playpens, strollers, bassinets. It also requires pre-market testing of those products to ensure that they meet those standards. Bottom line, we will no longer be using our children as test dummies. The government will be ensuring their safety.

Second, I'm gratified that the conference report includes the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act in its entirety. I crafted this legislation in honor of Danny Keysar who was strangled to death when he was 16 months old at his licensed daycare facility when the portable crib he was sleeping in collapsed. The crib that killed Danny had been recalled 5 years earlier, but the daycare center didn't know that.

To improve the product recall system, manufacturers of children's products will be required to attach a postage-paid recall registration card to each product that can be mailed in to notify the purchaser when a product is recalled for safety reasons. This provision is a tribute to the work of Danny's parents, Linda Ginzel and Boaz Keysar, who created the organization Kids in Danger 3 weeks after Danny's death in order to prevent other children and families from suffering the same tragedy.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman from Illinois has expired.

Mr. DINGELL. I yield the distinguished gentlewoman 30 additional seconds.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Finally, I am delighted the conference report contains a provision to immediately adopt the set of existing voluntary toy standards as a mandatory standard on an interim basis. Then the CPSC, working with consumer groups, will assess those standards, beginning with the toys that present the greatest hazards, and develop not only the best possible mandatory standards, but require pre-testing to those standards. At last, all toys will be tested before they arrive on toy store shelves.

Madam Speaker, the conference report we will adopt today will finally bring the CPSC into the 21st century, and will, I hope, transform it into the world's foremost consumer protection agency.

It was an honor to be working on this bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source