[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 21 (Tuesday, March 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PRODUCT SAFETY NOTIFICATION AND RECALL EFFECTIVENESS ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 1, 2005

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, every year approximately 300 
recalls of potentially hazardous and dangerous consumer products are 
conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Tragically, many 
of our constituents are never aware that a product in their home has 
been recalled due to safety concerns. In recent years more than 11 
million potentially injurious products were on the market including 
baby cribs, strollers, and children's toys. The return rate for these 
recalled products is less than 20 percent. That means over 8 million 
life-threatening products are in homes across the Nation.
  The main reason the return rate is low is that manufacturers do not 
have a proper system in place to notify consumers when their product 
has a defect. This is why I am introducing the Product Safety 
Notification and Recall Effectiveness Act of 2005.
  This legislation requires manufacturers to include a product 
registration card or offer online product registration for every 
juvenile product, small household appliance or other product the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission deems necessary. These registration 
cards may not include any marketing information which is often a turn-
off for consumers. The only use for these cards and the on-line 
registration is to create a database of necessary information to 
contact consumers directly in the event of a product recall.
  The Product Safety Notification and Recall Effectiveness Act of 2005 
will help protect children and families. In 1993, the National Highway 
Transportation and Safety Administration, NHTSA, introduced a mandatory 
registration card program for child safety seats similar to what this 
legislation proposes. A study published regarding this program, found 
that the registration program resulted in nine times more child safety 
seats being registered. An increase of 56 percent more seats were 
brought in for repair. These registration cards are helping to save 
lives.
  This legislation has been endorsed by the Consumer Federation, 
Consumer Union and several other consumer and safety advocacy groups. 
They know that something needs to be done to help protect everyone from 
potentially hazardous items.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important 
legislation. We have a responsibility to ensure that every family and 
every person in our congressional districts are aware of any recall to 
help improve their safety.

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