Providing Greater Authority And Discretion to Consumer Product Safety Commission (Extensions of Remarks)

Floor Speech

* Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud House passage of H.R. 2715, the Enhancing CPSC Authority and Discretion Act of 2011, ECADA.

* I voted in favor of this long-awaited bill, because it addresses the needed reforms of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, CPSIA, without undoing its core protections of consumers from unsafe toys and other products.

* This landmark legislation came in the wake of one of the biggest wave of consumer product recalls in American history. In excess of 10 million toys were estimated to have been recalled due to lead paint and other product safety standards, standards that have been on the books for decades. This was and is unacceptable, and Congress responded accordingly.

* Specifically, Mr. Speaker, this bill adequately addresses what I believe is the key provision of CPSIA--that consumer products, especially children's products--should be tested as being in compliance with mandatory safety standards.

* And testing is the key. We live in a global supply chain environment, where any given product has a dozen or more part suppliers from a dozen or more countries, where safety standards may be weaker than our own.

* That is why, Mr. Speaker, I am proud and pleased that the final ECADA bill passed by the House today maintains the requirement that products be tested to CPSC lead and other standards. But I am equally pleased that the final bill reflects the need to make such testing affordable.

* Additionally, H.R. 2715 directs the CPSC to look for ``other techniques for lowering the cost of third party testing consistent with assuring compliance with the applicable consumer product safety rules, bans, standards and regulations.''

* Mr. Speaker, this last language is critical because it will protect consumers and create jobs here in America. I know this because in my Congressional District a company, XOS, Inc. has developed state of the art instruments for detecting lead, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals in children's toys and other products.

* This new technology is the only CPSC approved method for the detection of lead paint without using wet chemistry. This method was also adopted by one of the most widely respected voluntary standards development organizations in the country (ASTM).

* Finally, I would suggest that, as this bill is on the precipice of becoming law, we consider that, if a small company in upstate New York can find a solution to ``how much lead is in this product,'' we can find more home-grown solutions to many of the other pending issues facing our country. We need to focus all our efforts on investing in our people and in creating jobs and this bill does just that.

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