[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 195 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H16874-H16887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY MODERNIZATION ACT

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4040) to establish consumer product safety standards and 
other safety requirements for children's products and to reauthorize 
and modernize the Consumer Product Safety Commission, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4040

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Consumer 
     Product Safety Modernization Act''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. References.
Sec. 3. Authority to issue implementing regulations.

                   TITLE I--CHILDREN'S PRODUCT SAFETY

Sec. 101. Ban on children's products containing lead; lead paint rule.
Sec. 102. Mandatory third-party testing for certain children's 
              products.
Sec. 103. Tracking labels for children's products.
Sec. 104. Standards and consumer registration of durable nursery 
              products.
Sec. 105. Labeling requirement for certain internet and catalogue 
              advertising of toys and games.
Sec. 106. Study of preventable injuries and deaths in minority children 
              related to consumer products.
Sec. 107. Review of generally-applicable standards for toys.

          TITLE II--CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION REFORM

Sec. 201. Reauthorization of the Commission.
Sec. 202. Structure and quorum.
Sec. 203. Submission of copy of certain documents to Congress.
Sec. 204. Expedited rulemaking.
Sec. 205. Public disclosure of information.
Sec. 206. Publicly available information on incidents involving injury 
              or death.
Sec. 207. Prohibition on stockpiling under other Commission-enforced 
              statutes.
Sec. 208. Notification of noncompliance with any Commission-enforced 
              statute.
Sec. 209. Enhanced recall authority and corrective action plans.
Sec. 210. Website notice, notice to third party internet sellers, and 
              radio and television notice.
Sec. 211. Inspection of certified proprietary laboratories.
Sec. 212. Identification of manufacturer, importers, retailers, and 
              distributors.
Sec. 213. Export of recalled and non-conforming products.
Sec. 214. Prohibition on sale of recalled products.
Sec. 215. Increased civil penalty.
Sec. 216. Criminal penalties to include asset forfeiture.
Sec. 217. Enforcement by State attorneys general.
Sec. 218. Effect of rules on preemption.
Sec. 219. Sharing of information with Federal, State, local, and 
              foreign government agencies.
Sec. 220. Inspector General authority and accessibility.
Sec. 221. Repeal.
Sec. 222. Industry-sponsored travel ban.
Sec. 223. Annual reporting requirement.
Sec. 224. Study on the effectiveness of authority relating to imported 
              products.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       (a) Commission.--As used in this Act, the term 
     ``Commission'' means the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
       (b) Consumer Product Safety Act.--Except as otherwise 
     expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment is 
     expressed as an amendment to a section or other provision, 
     the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 
     other provision of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
     2051 et seq.).
       (c) Rule.--In this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 
     a reference to any rule under any Act enforced by the 
     Commission shall be considered a reference to any rule, 
     standard, ban, or order under any such Act.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO ISSUE IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.

       The Commission may issue regulations, as necessary, to 
     implement this Act and the amendments made by this Act.

                   TITLE I--CHILDREN'S PRODUCT SAFETY

     SEC. 101. BAN ON CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS CONTAINING LEAD; LEAD 
                   PAINT RULE.

       (a) Children's Products Containing Lead.--
       (1) Banned hazardous substance.--Effective 180 days after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, any children's product 
     containing more than the amounts of lead set forth in 
     paragraph (2) shall be a banned hazardous substance within 
     the meaning of section 2(q)(1) of the Federal Hazardous 
     Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261(q)(1)).
       (2) Standard for amount of lead.--The amounts of lead 
     referred to in paragraph (1) shall be--
       (A) 600 parts per million total lead content by weight for 
     any part of the product;
       (B) 300 parts per million total lead content by weight for 
     any part of the product, effective 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act; and
       (C) 100 parts per million total lead content by weight for 
     any part of the product, effective 4 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, unless the Commission determines, 
     after notice and a hearing, that a standard of 100 parts per 
     million is not feasible, in which case the Commission shall 
     require the lowest amount of lead that the Commission 
     determines is feasible to achieve.

[[Page H16875]]

       (3) Commission revision to more protective standard.--
       (A) More protective standard.--The Commission may, by rule, 
     revise the standard set forth in paragraph (2)(C) for any 
     class of children's products to any level and form that the 
     Commission determines is--
       (i) more protective of human health; and
       (ii) feasible to achieve.
       (B) Periodic review.--The Commission shall, based on the 
     best available scientific and technical information, 
     periodically review and revise the standard set forth in this 
     section to require the lowest amount of lead that the 
     Commission determines is feasible to achieve.
       (4) Commission authority to exclude certain materials.--The 
     Commission may, by rule, exclude certain products and 
     materials from the prohibition in paragraph (1) if the 
     Commission determines that the lead content in such products 
     and materials will not result in the absorption of lead in 
     the human body or does not have any adverse impact on public 
     health or safety.
       (5) Definition of children's product.--
       (A) In general.--As used in this subsection, the term 
     ``children's product'' means a consumer product as defined in 
     section 3(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
     2052(1)) designed or intended primarily for children 12 years 
     of age or younger.
       (B) Factors to be considered.--In determining whether a 
     product is primarily intended for a child 12 years of age or 
     younger, the following factors shall be considered:
       (i) A statement by a manufacturer about the intended use of 
     such product, including a label on such product if such 
     statement is reasonable.
       (ii) Whether the product is represented in its packaging, 
     display or advertising as appropriate for use by children 12 
     years of age or younger.
       (iii) Whether the product is commonly recognized by 
     consumers as being intended for use by child 12 years of age 
     or younger.
       (iv) The Age Determination Guidelines issued by the 
     Commission staff in September 2002, and any successor 
     thereto.
       (6) Exception for inaccessible component parts.--The 
     standards established under paragraph (2) shall not apply to 
     any component part of a children's product that is not 
     accessible to a child through normal and reasonably 
     foreseeable use and abuse of such product, as determined by 
     the Commission. A component part is not accessible under this 
     paragraph if such component part is not physically exposed by 
     reason of a sealed covering or casing and does not become 
     physically exposed through reasonably foreseeable use and 
     abuse of the product. The Commission may require that certain 
     electronic devices be equipped with a child-resistant cover 
     or casing that prevents exposure of and accessibility to the 
     parts of the product containing lead if the Commission 
     determines that it is not feasible for such products to 
     otherwise meet such standards.
       (b) Paint Standard.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Commission shall modify section 
     1303.1 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, to--
       (A) reduce the standard applicable to lead paint by 
     substituting ``0.009 percent'' for ``0.06 percent'' in 
     subsection (a) of that section;
       (B) apply the standard to all children's products as 
     defined in subsection (a)(5); and
       (C) reduce the standard for paint and other surface coating 
     on children's products and furniture to 0.009 milligrams per 
     centimeter squared.
       (2) More protective standard.--Not later than 3 years after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, by 
     rule, revise the standard established under paragraph (1)(C) 
     to a more protective standard if the Commission determines 
     such a standard to be feasible.
       (c) Authority to Extend Implementation Periods.--The 
     Commission may extend, by rule, the effective dates in 
     subsections (a) and (b) by an additional period not to exceed 
     180 days if the Commission determines that--
       (1) there is no impact on public health or safety from 
     extending the implementation period; and
       (2)(A) the complete implementation of the new standards by 
     manufacturers subject to such standards is not feasible 
     within 180 days;
       (B) the cost of such implementation, particularly on small 
     and medium sized enterprises, is excessive; or
       (C) the Commission requires additional time to implement 
     such standards and determine the required testing 
     methodologies and appropriate exceptions in order to enforce 
     such standards.

     SEC. 102. MANDATORY THIRD-PARTY TESTING FOR CERTAIN 
                   CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS.

       (a) Mandatory and Third-Party Testing.--Section 14(a) (15 
     U.S.C. 2063(a)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by striking ``Every manufacturer'' and inserting 
     ``Except as provided in paragraph (2), every manufacturer''; 
     and
       (B) by striking ``standard under this Act'' and inserting 
     ``rule under this Act or similar rule under any other Act 
     enforced by the Commission'';
       (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3) and 
     inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
       ``(2) Effective 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
     Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, every manufacturer 
     of a children's product (and the private labeler of such 
     children's product if such product bears a private label) 
     which is subject to a consumer product safety rule under this 
     Act or a similar rule or standard under any other Act 
     enforced by the Commission, shall--
       ``(A) have the product tested by a independent third party 
     qualified to perform such tests or a proprietary laboratory 
     certified by the Commission under subsection (e) ; and
       ``(B) issue a certificate which shall--
       ``(i) certify that such product conforms to such standards 
     or rules; and
       ``(ii) specify the applicable consumer product safety 
     standards or other similar rules.''; and
       (3) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated)--
       (A) by striking ``required by paragraph (1) of this 
     subsection'' and inserting ``required by paragraph (1) or (2) 
     (as the case may be)''; and
       (B) by striking ``requirement under paragraph (1)'' and 
     inserting ``requirement under paragraph (1) or (2) (as the 
     case may be)''.
       (b) Definition of Children's Products and Independent Third 
     Party.--Section 14 (15 U.S.C. 2063) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:
       ``(d) Definitions.--In this section, the following 
     definitions apply:
       ``(1) The term `children's product' means a consumer 
     product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years 
     of age or younger. In determining whether a product is 
     primarily intended for a child 12 years of age or younger, 
     the following factors shall be considered:
       ``(A) A statement by a manufacturer about the intended use 
     of such product, including a label on such product if such 
     statement is reasonable.
       ``(B) Whether the product is represented in its packaging, 
     display or advertising as appropriate for use by children 12 
     years of age or younger.
       ``(C) Whether the product is commonly recognized by 
     consumers as being intended for use by child 12 years of age 
     or younger.
       ``(D) The Age Determination Guidelines issued by the 
     Commission staff in September 2002, and any successor 
     thereto.
       ``(2) The term `independent third party', means an 
     independent testing entity that is not owned, managed, 
     controlled, or directed by such manufacturer or private 
     labeler, and that is accredited in accordance with an 
     accreditation process established or recognized by the 
     Commission. In the case of certification of art material or 
     art material products required under this section or under 
     regulations issued under the Federal Hazardous Substances 
     Act, such term includes a certifying organization, as such 
     term is defined in appendix A to section 1500.14(b)(8) of 
     title 16, Code of Federal Regulations.''.
       (c) Certification of Proprietary Laboratories.--Section 14 
     (15 U.S.C. 2063) is further amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(e) Certification of Proprietary Laboratories for 
     Mandatory Testing.--
       ``(1) Certification.--Upon request, the Commission, or an 
     independent standard-setting organization to which the 
     Commission has delegated such authority, may certify a 
     laboratory that is owned, managed, controlled, or directed by 
     the manufacturer or private labeler for purposes of testing 
     required under this section if the Commission determines 
     that--
       ``(A) certification of the laboratory would provide equal 
     or greater consumer safety protection than the manufacturer's 
     use of an independent third party laboratory;
       ``(B) the laboratory has established procedures to ensure 
     that the laboratory is protected from undue influence, 
     including pressure to modify or hide test results, by the 
     manufacturer or private labeler; and
       ``(C) the laboratory has established procedures for 
     confidential reporting of allegations of undue influence to 
     the Commission.
       ``(2) Decertification.--The Commission, or an independent 
     standard-setting organization to which the Commission has 
     delegated such authority, may decertify any laboratory 
     certified under paragraph (1) if the Commission finds, after 
     notice and investigation, that a manufacturer or private 
     labeler has exerted undue influence on the laboratory.''.
       (d) Conforming Amendments.--Section 14(b) (15 U.S.C. 
     2063(b)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``standards under this Act'' and inserting 
     ``rules under this Act or similar rules under any other Act 
     enforced by the Commission''; and
       (2) by striking ``, at the option of the person required to 
     certify the product,'' and inserting ``be required by the 
     Commission to''.

     SEC. 103. TRACKING LABELS FOR CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS.

       Section 14(a) (15 U.S.C. 2063(a)) is further amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) Effective 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
     Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, the manufacturer 
     of a children's product shall, to the extent feasible, place 
     distinguishing marks on the product and its packaging that 
     will enable the manufacturer and the ultimate purchaser to 
     ascertain the location and date of production of the product, 
     and any other information determined by the manufacturer to 
     facilitate ascertaining the specific source of the product by 
     reference to those marks.''.

     SEC. 104. STANDARDS AND CONSUMER REGISTRATION OF DURABLE 
                   NURSERY PRODUCTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Danny 
     Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act''.
       (b) Safety Standards.--
       (1) In general.--The Commission shall--
       (A) in consultation with representatives of consumer 
     groups, juvenile product manufacturers, and independent child 
     product engineers and experts, examine and assess the 
     effectiveness of any voluntary consumer product safety 
     standards for durable infant or toddler product; and
       (B) in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 
     States Code, promulgate consumer product safety rules that--
       (i) are substantially the same as such voluntary standards; 
     or
       (ii) are more stringent than such voluntary standards, if 
     the Commission determines that more stringent standards would 
     further reduce the risk of injury associated with such 
     products.
       (2) Timetable for rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after 
     the date of enactment of this

[[Page H16876]]

     Act, the Commission shall commence the rulemaking required 
     under paragraph (1) and shall promulgate rules for no fewer 
     than 2 categories of durable nursery products every 6 months 
     thereafter, beginning with the product categories that the 
     Commission determines to be of highest priority, until the 
     Commission has promulgated standards for all such product 
     categories. Thereafter, the Commission shall periodically 
     review and revise the rules set forth under this subsection 
     to ensure that such rules provide the highest level of safety 
     for such products that is feasible.
       (c) Consumer Registration Requirement.--
       (1) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, pursuant to its 
     authority under section 16(b) of the Consumer Product Safety 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 2065(b)), promulgate a final consumer product 
     safety rule to require manufacturers of durable infant or 
     toddler products--
       (A) to provide consumers with a postage-paid consumer 
     registration form with each such product;
       (B) to maintain a record of the names, addresses, email 
     addresses, and other contact information of consumers who 
     register their ownership of such products with the 
     manufacturer in order to improve the effectiveness of 
     manufacturer campaigns to recall such products; and
       (C) to permanently place the manufacturer name and contact 
     information, model name and number, and the date of 
     manufacture on each durable infant or toddler product.
       (2) Requirements for registration form.--The registration 
     form required to be provided to consumers under subsection 
     (a) shall--
       (A) include spaces for a consumer to provide their name, 
     address, telephone number, and email address;
       (B) include space sufficiently large to permit easy, 
     legible recording of all desired information;
       (C) be attached to the surface of each durable infant or 
     toddler product so that, as a practical matter, the consumer 
     must notice and handle the form after purchasing the product;
       (D) include the manufacturer's name, model name and number 
     for the product, and the date of manufacture;
       (E) include a message explaining the purpose of the 
     registration and designed to encourage consumers to complete 
     the registration;
       (F) include an option for consumers to register through the 
     Internet; and
       (G) include a statement that information provided by the 
     consumer shall not be used for any purpose other than to 
     facilitate a recall of or safety alert regarding that 
     product.

     In issuing regulations under this section, the Commission may 
     prescribe the exact text and format of the required 
     registration form.
       (3) Record keeping and notification requirements.--The 
     standard required under this section shall require each 
     manufacturer of a durable infant or toddler product to 
     maintain a record of registrants for each product 
     manufactured that includes all of the information provided by 
     each consumer registered, and to use such information to 
     notify such consumers in the event of a voluntary or 
     involuntary recall of or safety alert regarding such product. 
     Each manufacturer shall maintain such a record for a period 
     of not less than 6 years after the date of manufacture of the 
     product. Consumer information collected by a manufacturer 
     under this Act may not be used by the manufacturer, nor 
     disseminated by such manufacturer to any other party, for any 
     purpose other than notification to such consumer in the event 
     of a product recall or safety alert.
       (4) Study.--The Commission shall conduct a study at such 
     time as it considers appropriate on the effectiveness of the 
     consumer registration forms in facilitating product recalls 
     and whether such registration forms should be required for 
     other children's products. Not later than 4 years after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall report 
     its findings to Congress.
       (d) Definition of Durable Infant or Toddler Product.--As 
     used in this section, the term ``durable infant or toddler 
     product''--
       (1) means a durable product intended for use, or that may 
     be reasonably expected to be used, by children under the age 
     of 5 years; and
       (2) shall include--
       (A) full-size cribs and nonfull-size cribs;
       (B) toddler beds;
       (C) high chairs, booster chairs, and hook-on chairs;
       (D) bath seats;
       (E) gates and other enclosures for confining a child;
       (F) play yards;
       (G) stationary activity centers;
       (H) infant carriers;
       (I) strollers;
       (J) walkers;
       (K) swings; and
       (L) bassinets and cradles.

     SEC. 105. LABELING REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN INTERNET AND 
                   CATALOGUE ADVERTISING OF TOYS AND GAMES.

       Section 24 of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 
     U.S.C. 1278) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
     (d) and (e), respectively;
       (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
       ``(c) Internet, Catalogue, and Other Advertising.--
       ``(1) Requirement.--Effective 180 days after the Consumer 
     Product Safety Modernization Act, any advertisement of a 
     retailer, manufacturer, importer, distributor, private 
     labeler, or licensor that provides a direct means for the 
     purchase or ordering of any toy, game, balloon, small ball, 
     or marble that requires a cautionary statement under 
     subsections (a) and (b), including advertisement on Internet 
     websites or in catalogues or other distributed materials, 
     shall include the appropriate cautionary statement required 
     under such subsections in its entirety displayed on or 
     immediately adjacent to such advertisement. Such cautionary 
     statement shall be displayed in the language that is 
     primarily used in the advertisement, catalogue, or Internet 
     website, and in a clear and conspicuous manner consistent 
     with part 1500 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations (or a 
     successor regulation thereto).
       ``(2) Enforcement.--The requirement in paragraph (1) shall 
     be treated as a consumer product safety rule promulgated 
     under section 7 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
     2056) and the publication or distribution of any 
     advertisement that is not in compliance with the requirements 
     of paragraph (1) shall be treated as a prohibited act under 
     section 19 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2068).
       ``(3) Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, 
     the Commission shall, by rule, modify the requirement under 
     paragraph (1) with regard to catalogues or other printed 
     materials concerning the size and placement of the cautionary 
     statement required under such paragraph as appropriate 
     relative to the size and placement of the advertisements in 
     such printed materials. The Commission may, under such rule, 
     provide a grace period for catalogues and printed materials 
     printed prior to the effective date in paragraph (1) during 
     which time distribution of such printed materials shall not 
     be considered a violation of such paragraph.''.

     SEC. 106. STUDY OF PREVENTABLE INJURIES AND DEATHS IN 
                   MINORITY CHILDREN RELATED TO CONSUMER PRODUCTS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
     initiate a study to assess disparities in the risks and 
     incidence of preventable injuries and deaths among children 
     of minority populations, including Black, Hispanic, American 
     Indian, Alaskan native, and Asian/Pacific Islander children 
     in the United States. The Comptroller General shall consult 
     with the Commission as necessary.
       (b) Requirements.--The study shall examine the racial 
     disparities of the rates of preventable injuries and deaths 
     related to suffocation, poisonings, and drownings associated 
     with the use of cribs, mattresses and bedding materials, 
     swimming pools and spas, and toys and other products intended 
     for use by children.
       (c)) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall report 
     the findings to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
     Science, and Transportation of the Senate. The report shall 
     include--
       (1) the Comptroller General's findings on the incidence of 
     preventable risks of injuries and deaths among children of 
     minority populations and recommendations for minimizing such 
     risks;
       (2) recommendations for public outreach, awareness, and 
     prevention campaigns specifically aimed at racial minority 
     populations; and
       (3) recommendations for education initiatives that may 
     reduce statistical disparities.

     SEC. 107. REVIEW OF GENERALLY-APPLICABLE STANDARDS FOR TOYS.

       (a) Assessment.--The Commission shall examine and assess 
     the effectiveness of the safety standard for toys, ASTM-
     International standard F963-07, or its successor standard, to 
     determine--
       (1) the scope of such standards, including the number and 
     type of toys to which such standards apply;
       (2) the degree of adherence to such standards on the part 
     of manufacturers; and
       (3) the adequacy of such standards in protecting children 
     from safety hazards.
       (b) Special Focus on Magnets.--In conducting the assessment 
     required under subsection (a), the Commission shall first 
     examine the effectiveness of the F963-07 standard as it 
     relates to intestinal blockage and perforation hazards caused 
     by ingestion of magnets. If the Commission determines based 
     on the review that there is substantial noncompliance with 
     such standard that creates an unreasonable risk of injury or 
     hazard to children, the Commission shall expedite a 
     rulemaking to consider the adoption, as a consumer product 
     safety rule, of the voluntary safety standards contained 
     within the ASTM F963-07, or its successor standard, that 
     relate to intestinal blockage and perforation hazards caused 
     by ingestion of magnets.
       (c) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Commission shall report to 
     Congress the findings of the study conducted pursuant to 
     subsection (a). Such report shall include the Commission's 
     opinion regarding--
       (1) the feasibility of requiring manufacturer testing of 
     all toys to such standards; and
       (2) whether promulgating consumer product safety rules that 
     are substantially similar or more stringent than the 
     standards described in such subsection would be beneficial to 
     public health and safety.

          TITLE II--CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION REFORM

     SEC. 201. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE COMMISSION.

       (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Subsections (a) and 
     (b) of section 32 (15 U.S.C. 2081) are amended to read as 
     follows:
       ``(a) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
     Commission for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of 
     this Act and any other provision of law the Commission is 
     authorized or directed to carry out--
       ``(1) $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2009;
       ``(2) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and
       ``(3) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2011.
       ``(b) In addition to the amounts specified in subsection 
     (a), there are authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 to 
     the Commission for fiscal

[[Page H16877]]

     years 2009 through 2011, for the purpose of renovation, 
     repair, reconstruction, re-equipping, and making other 
     necessary capital improvements to the Commission's research, 
     development, and testing facility (including bringing the 
     facility into compliance with applicable environmental, 
     safety, and accessibility standards).''.
       (b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall transmit 
     to Congress a report of its plans to allocate the funding 
     authorized by subsection (a). Such report shall include--
       (1) the number of full-time inspectors and other full-time 
     equivalents the Commission intends to employ;
       (2) the plan of the Commission for risk assessment and 
     inspection of imported consumer products;
       (3) an assessment of the feasibility of mandating bonds for 
     serious hazards and repeat offenders and Commission 
     inspection and certification of foreign third-party and 
     proprietary testing facilities; and
       (4) the efforts of the Commission to reach and educate 
     retailers of second-hand products and informal sellers, such 
     as thrift shops and yard sales, concerning consumer product 
     safety standards and product recalls, especially those 
     relating to durable nursery products, in order to prevent the 
     resale of any products that have been recalled, including the 
     development of educational materials for distribution not 
     later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 202. STRUCTURE AND QUORUM.

       (a) Extension of Temporary Quorum.--Notwithstanding section 
     4(d) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2053(d)), 
     2 members of the Commission, if they are not affiliated with 
     the same political party, shall constitute a quorum for the 
     transaction of business for the period beginning on the date 
     of enactment of this Act through--
       (1) August 3, 2008, if the President nominates a person to 
     fill a vacancy on the Commission prior to such date; or
       (2) the earlier of--
       (A) 3 months after the date on which the President 
     nominates a person to fill a vacancy on the Commission after 
     such date; or
       (B) February 3, 2009.
       (b) Repeal of Limitation.--The first proviso in the account 
     under the heading ``Consumer Product Safety Commission, 
     Salaries and Expenses'' in title III of Public Law 102-389 
     (15 U.S.C. 2053 note) shall cease to be in effect after 
     fiscal year 2010.

     SEC. 203. SUBMISSION OF COPY OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS TO 
                   CONGRESS.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any rule, regulation, or 
     order to the contrary, the Commission shall comply with the 
     requirements of section 27(k) of the Consumer Product Safety 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 2076) with respect to budget recommendations, 
     legislative recommendations, testimony, and comments on 
     legislation submitted by the Commission to the President or 
     the Office of Management and Budget after the date of 
     enactment of this Act.
       (b) Reinstatement of Requirement.--Section 3003(d) of 
     Public Law 104-66 (31 U.S.C. 1113 note) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``or'' after the semicolon in paragraph 
     (31);
       (2) by redesignating paragraph (32) as (33); and
       (3) by inserting after paragraph (31) the following:
       ``(32) section 27(k) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 
     U.S.C. 2076(k)); or''.

     SEC. 204. EXPEDITED RULEMAKING.

       (a) Rulemaking Under the Consumer Product Safety Act.--
       (1) Advance notice of proposed rulemaking requirement.--
     Section 9 (15 U.S.C. 2058) is amended--
       (A) by striking ``shall be commenced'' in subsection (a) 
     and inserting ``may be commenced'';
       (B) by striking ``in the notice'' in subsection (b) and 
     inserting ``in a notice'';
       (C) by striking ``unless, not less than 60 days after 
     publication of the notice required in subsection (a), the'' 
     in subsection (c) and inserting ``unless the'';
       (D) by inserting ``or notice of proposed rulemaking'' after 
     ``advance notice of proposed rulemaking'' in subsection (c); 
     and
       (E) by striking ``an advance notice of proposed rulemaking 
     under subsection (a) relating to the product involved,'' in 
     the third sentence of subsection (c) and inserting ``the 
     notice''.
       (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 5(a)(3) (15 U.S.C. 
     2054(a)(3)) is amended by striking ``an advance notice of 
     proposed rulemaking or''.
       (b) Rulemaking Under Federal Hazardous Substances Act.--
       (1) In general.--Section 3(a)(1) of the Federal Hazardous 
     Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1262(a)(1)) is amended to read as 
     follows:
       ``(1) Whenever in the judgment of the Commission such 
     action will promote the objectives of this Act by avoiding or 
     resolving uncertainty as to its application, the Commission 
     may by regulation declare to be a hazardous substance, for 
     the purposes of this Act, any substance or mixture of 
     substances, which the Commission finds meets the requirements 
     section 2(f)(1)(A).''.
       (2) Procedure.--
       (A) Section 2(q)(2) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 1261(q)(2)) is amended by striking ``Proceedings 
     for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of regulations 
     pursuant to clause (B) of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph 
     shall be governed by the provisions of sections 701(e), (f), 
     and (g) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act: 
     Provided, That if'' and inserting ``Proceedings for the 
     issuance, amendment, or repeal of regulations pursuant to 
     clause (B) of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph shall be 
     governed by the provisions of subsections (f) through (i) of 
     section 3 of this Act, except that if''.
       (B) Section 3(a)(2) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 1262(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(2) Proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of 
     regulations under this subsection and the admissibility of 
     the record of such proceedings in other proceedings, shall be 
     governed by the provisions of subsections (f) through (i) of 
     this section.''.
       (3) Advance notice of proposed rulemaking requirement.--
     Section 3 of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 
     1262) is amended--
       (A) by striking ``shall be commenced'' in subsection (f) 
     and inserting ``may be commenced'';
       (B) by striking ``in the notice'' in subsection (g)(1) and 
     inserting ``in a notice''; and
       (C) by striking ``unless, not less than 60 days after 
     publication of the notice required in subsection (f), the'' 
     in subsection (h) and inserting ``unless the''.
       (4) Conforming amendments.--The Federal Hazardous 
     Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq.) is amended--
       (A) by striking subsection (d) of section 2 and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(d) The term `Commission' means the Consumer Product 
     Safety Commission.'';
       (B) by striking ``Secretary'' each place it appears and 
     inserting ``Commission'' except--
       (i) in section 10(b) (15 U.S.C. 1269(b));
       (ii) in section 14 (15 U.S.C. 1273); and
       (iii) in section 21(a) (15 U.S.C. 1276(a));
       (C) by striking ``Department'' each place it appears, 
     except in section 14(b), and inserting ``Commission'';
       (D) by striking ``he'' and ``his'' each place they appear 
     in reference to the Secretary and inserting ``it'' and 
     ``its'', respectively;
       (E) by striking ``Secretary of Health, Education, and 
     Welfare'' each place it appears in section 10(b) (15 U.S.C. 
     1269(b)) and inserting ``Commission'';
       (F) by striking ``Secretary of Health, Education, and 
     Welfare'' each place it appears in section 14 (15 U.S.C. 
     1273) and inserting ``Commission'';
       (G) by striking ``Department of Health, Education, and 
     Welfare'' in section 14(b) (15 U.S.C. 1273(b)) and inserting 
     ``Commission'';
       (H) by striking ``Consumer Product Safety Commission'' each 
     place it appears and inserting ``Commission''; and
       (I) by striking ``(hereinafter in this section referred to 
     as the `Commission')'' in section 20(a)(1) (15 U.S.C. 
     1275(a)(1)).
       (c) Rulemaking Under the Flammable Fabrics Act.--
       (1) In general.--Section 4 of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 
     U.S.C. 1193) is amended--
       (A) by striking ``shall be commenced'' and inserting ``may 
     be commenced by a notice of proposed rulemaking or'';
       (B) in subsection (i), by striking ``unless, not less than 
     60 days after publication of the notice required in 
     subsection (g), the'' and inserting ``unless the''.
       (2) Other conforming amendments.--The Flammable Fabrics Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 1193 et seq.) is further amended--
       (A) by striking subsection (i) of section 2 and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(i) The term `Commission' means the Consumer Product 
     Safety Commission.'';
       (B) by striking ``Secretary of Commerce'' each place it 
     appears and inserting ``the Commission'';
       (C) by striking ``Secretary'' each place it appears, except 
     in sections 9 and 14, and inserting ``Commission'';
       (D) by striking ``he'' and ``his'' each place either term 
     appears in reference to the secretary and insert ``it'' and 
     ``its'', respectively;
       (E) in section 4(e), by striking paragraph (5) and 
     redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (5);
       (F) in section 15, by striking ``Consumer Product Safety 
     Commission (hereinafter referred to as the `Commission')'' 
     and inserting ``Commission'';
       (G) by striking section 16(d) and inserting the following:
       ``(d) In this section, a reference to a flammability 
     standard or other regulation for a fabric, related materials, 
     or product in effect under this Act includes a standard of 
     flammability continued in effect by section 11 of the Act of 
     December 14, 1967 (Public Law 90-189).''; and
       (H) in section 17, by striking ``Consumer Product Safety 
     Commission'' and inserting ``Commission''.

     SEC. 205. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.

       Section 6(b) (15 U.S.C. 2055(b)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by striking ``30 days'' and inserting ``15 days'';
       (B) by striking ``finds that the public'' and inserting 
     ``publishes a finding that the public''; and
       (C) by striking ``and publishes such a finding in the 
     Federal Register'';
       (2) in paragraph (2)--
       (A) by striking ``10 days'' and inserting ``5 days'';
       (B) by striking ``finds that the public'' and inserting 
     ``publishes a finding that the public''; and
       (C) by striking ``and publishes such a finding in the 
     Federal Register'';
       (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ``section 19 (related to 
     prohibited acts)'' and inserting ``any consumer product 
     safety rule under or provision of this Act or similar rule 
     under or provision of any other Act administered by the 
     Commission''; and
       (4) in paragraph (5)--
       (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``; or'' and inserting 
     a semicolon;
       (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period and 
     inserting ``; or'';
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(D) the Commission publishes a finding that the public 
     health and safety require public disclosure with a lesser 
     period of notice than is required under paragraph (1).''; and

[[Page H16878]]

       (D) in the matter following such subparagraph (as added by 
     subparagraph (C)), by striking ``section 19(a)'' and 
     inserting ``any consumer product safety rule under this Act 
     or similar rule under or provision of any other Act 
     administered by the Commission''.

     SEC. 206. PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON INCIDENTS 
                   INVOLVING INJURY OR DEATH.

       (a) Evaluation.--The Commission shall examine and assess 
     the efficacy of the Injury Information Clearinghouse 
     maintained by the Commission pursuant to section 5(a) of the 
     Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2054(a)). The 
     Commission shall determine the volume and types of publicly 
     available information on incidents involving consumer 
     products that result in injury, illness, or death and the 
     ease and manner in which consumers can access such 
     information.
       (b) Improvement Plan.--As a result of the study conducted 
     under subsection (a), the Commission shall transmit to 
     Congress, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
     of this Act, a detailed plan for maintaining and categorizing 
     such information on a searchable Internet database to make 
     the information more easily available and beneficial to 
     consumers, with due regard for the protection of personal 
     information. Such plan shall include the views of the 
     Commission regarding whether additional information, such as 
     consumer complaints, hospital or other medical reports, and 
     warranty claims, should be included in the database. The plan 
     submitted under this subsection shall include a detailed 
     implementation schedule for the database, recommendations for 
     any necessary legislation, and plans for a public awareness 
     campaign to be conducted by the Commission to increase 
     consumer awareness of the database.

     SEC. 207. PROHIBITION ON STOCKPILING UNDER OTHER COMMISSION-
                   ENFORCED STATUTES.

       Section 9(g)(2) (15 U.S.C. 2058(g)(2)) is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``or to which a rule under any other law 
     enforced by the Commission applies,'' after ``applies,''; and
       (2) by striking ``consumer product safety'' the second, 
     third, and fourth places it appears.

     SEC. 208. NOTIFICATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ANY COMMISSION-
                   ENFORCED STATUTE.

       Section 15(b) (15 U.S.C. 2064(b)) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs 
     (3) and (4), respectively;
       (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
       ``(2) fails to comply with any other rule affecting health 
     and safety promulgated by the Commission under the Federal 
     Hazardous Substances Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, or the 
     Poison Prevention Packaging Act;''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following sentence: ``A report 
     provided under this paragraph (2) may not be used as the 
     basis for criminal prosecution under section 5 of the Federal 
     Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264), except for 
     offenses which require a showing of intent to defraud or 
     mislead.''.

     SEC. 209. ENHANCED RECALL AUTHORITY AND CORRECTIVE ACTION 
                   PLANS.

       (a) Enhanced Recall Authority.--Section 15 (15 U.S.C. 2064) 
     is amended--
       (1) in subjection (c)--
       (A) by striking ``if the Commission'' and inserting ``(1) 
     If the Commission'';
       (B) by inserting ``or if the Commission, after notifying 
     the manufacturer, determines a product to be an imminently 
     hazardous consumer product and has filed an action under 
     section 12,'' after ``from such substantial product 
     hazard,'';
       (C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 
     subparagraphs (D) through (F), respectively;
       (D) by inserting after ``the following actions:'' the 
     following:
       ``(A) To cease distribution of the product.
       ``(B) To notify all persons that transport, store, 
     distribute, or otherwise handle the product, or to which the 
     product has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise 
     handled, to cease immediately distribution of the product.
       ``(C) To notify appropriate State and local public health 
     officials.''; and
       (E) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(2) If a district court determines, in an action filed 
     under section 12, that the product that is the subject of 
     such action is not an imminently hazardous consumer product, 
     the Commission shall rescind any order issued under this 
     subsection with respect to such product.''.
       (2) in subsection (f)--
       (A) by striking ``An order'' and inserting ``(1) Except as 
     provided in paragraph (2), an order''; and
       (B) by inserting at the end the following:
       ``(2) The requirement for a hearing in paragraph (1) shall 
     not apply to an order issued under subsection (c) relating to 
     an imminently hazardous consumer product with regard to which 
     the Commission has filed an action under section 12.''.
       (b) Corrective Action Plans.--Section 15(d) (15 U.S.C. 
     2064(d)) is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after the subsection designation;
       (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as 
     subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C);
       (3) by striking ``more (A)'' in subparagraph (C), as 
     redesignated, and inserting ``more (i)'';
       (4) by striking ``or (B)'' in subparagraph (C), as 
     redesignated, and inserting ``or (ii)'';
       (5) by striking ``An order under this subsection may'' and 
     inserting:
       ``(2) An order under this subsection shall'';
       (6) by striking ``, satisfactory to the Commission,'' and 
     inserting ``, as promptly as practicable under the 
     circumstances, as determined by the Commission, for approval 
     by the Commission,''; and
       (7) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3)(A) If the Commission approves an action plan, it 
     shall indicate its approval in writing.
       ``(B) If the Commission finds that an approved action plan 
     is not effective or appropriate under the circumstances, or 
     that the manufacturer, retailer, or distributor is not 
     executing an approved action plan effectively, the Commission 
     may, by order, amend, or require amendment of, the action 
     plan. In determining whether an approved plan is effective or 
     appropriate under the circumstances, the Commission shall 
     consider whether a repair or replacement changes the intended 
     functionality of the product.
       ``(C) If the Commission determines, after notice and 
     opportunity for comment, that a manufacturer, retailer, or 
     distributor has failed to comply substantially with its 
     obligations under its action plan, the Commission may revoke 
     its approval of the action plan.''.
       (c) Content of Notice.--Section 15 is further amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(i) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
     of this Act, the Commission shall, by rule, establish 
     guidelines setting forth a uniform class of information to be 
     included in any notice required under an order under 
     subsection (c) or (d) of this section or under section 12. 
     Such guidelines shall include any information that the 
     Commission determines would be helpful to consumers in--
       ``(1) identifying the specific product that is subject to 
     such an order;
       ``(2) understanding the hazard that has been identified 
     with such product (including information regarding incidents 
     or injuries known to have occurred involving such product); 
     and
       ``(3) understanding what remedy, if any, is available to a 
     consumer who has purchased the product.''.

     SEC. 210. WEBSITE NOTICE, NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY INTERNET 
                   SELLERS, AND RADIO AND TELEVISION NOTICE.

       Section 15(c)(1) (15 U.S.C. 2064(c)(1)) is amended by 
     inserting ``, including posting clear and conspicuous notice 
     on its Internet website, providing notice to any third party 
     Internet website on which such manufacturer, retailer, or 
     distributor has placed the product for sale, and 
     announcements in languages other than English and on radio 
     and television where the Commission determines that a 
     substantial number of consumers to whom the recall is 
     directed may not be reached by other notice'' after 
     ``comply''.

     SEC. 211. INSPECTION OF CERTIFIED PROPRIETARY LABORATORIES.

       Section 16(a)(1) is amended by striking ``or (B)'' and 
     inserting ``(B) any proprietary laboratories certified under 
     section 14(e), or (C)''.

     SEC. 212. IDENTIFICATION OF MANUFACTURER, IMPORTERS, 
                   RETAILERS, AND DISTRIBUTORS.

       (a) In General.--Section 16 (15 U.S.C. 2065) is further 
     amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
       ``(c) Upon request by an officer or employee duly 
     designated by the Commission--
       ``(1) every importer, retailer, or distributor of a 
     consumer product (or other product or substance over which 
     the Commission has jurisdiction under this or any other Act) 
     shall identify the manufacturer of that product by name, 
     address, or such other identifying information as the officer 
     or employee may request, to the extent that such information 
     is in the possession of the importer, retailer, or 
     distributor; and
       ``(2) every manufacturer shall identify by name, address, 
     or such other identifying information as the officer or 
     employee may request--
       ``(A) each retailer or distributor to which the 
     manufacturer directly supplied a given consumer product (or 
     other product or substance over which the Commission has 
     jurisdiction under this or any other Act);
       ``(B) each subcontractor involved in the production or 
     fabrication or such product or substance; and
       ``(C) each subcontractor from which the manufacturer 
     obtained a component thereof.''.
       (b) Compliance Required for Importation.--Section 17 (15 
     U.S.C. 2066) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (g), by striking ``may'' and inserting 
     ``shall''; and
       (2) in subsection (h)(2), by striking ``may'' and inserting 
     ``shall, consistent with section 6,''.

     SEC. 213. EXPORT OF RECALLED AND NON-CONFORMING PRODUCTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 18 (15 U.S.C. 2067) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, 
     the Commission may prohibit, by order, a person from 
     exporting from the United States for purpose of sale any 
     consumer product, or other product or substance that is 
     regulated under any Act enforced by the Commission, that the 
     Commission determines, after notice to the manufacturer--
       ``(1) is not in conformity with an applicable consumer 
     product safety rule under this Act or a similar rule under 
     any such other Act;
       ``(2) is subject to an order issued under section 12 or 15 
     of this Act or designated as a banned hazardous substance 
     under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et 
     seq.); or
       ``(3) is subject to a voluntary corrective action taken by 
     the manufacturer, in consultation with the Commission, of 
     which action the Commission has notified the public and that 
     would have been subject to a mandatory corrective action 
     under this or another Act enforced by the Commission if 
     voluntary action had not been taken by the manufacturer,

     unless the importing country has notified the Commission that 
     such country accepts the importation of such product, 
     provided that if the importing country has not so notified 
     the Commission within 30 days after the Commission has 
     provided notice to the importing country of the impending 
     shipment, the Commission may take such action as is 
     appropriate with respect to the

[[Page H16879]]

     disposition of the product under the circumstances.''.
       (b) Prohibited Act.--Section 19(a)(10) (15 U.S.C. 
     2068(a)(10)) is amended by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting `` or violate an order of the Commission issued 
     under section 18(c); or''.
       (c) Conforming Amendments to Other Acts.--
       (1) Federal hazardous substances act.--Section 5(b)(3) of 
     the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(b)(3)) 
     is amended by striking ``substance presents an unreasonable 
     risk of injury to persons residing in the United States'' and 
     inserting ``substance is prohibited under section 18(c) of 
     the Consumer Product Safety Act,''.
       (2) Flammable fabrics act.--Section 15 of the Flammable 
     Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1202) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:
       ``(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, 
     the Consumer Product Safety Commission may prohibit, by 
     order, a person from exporting from the United States for 
     purpose of sale any fabric, related material, or product that 
     the Commission determines, after notice to the manufacturer--
       ``(1) is not in conformity with an applicable consumer 
     product safety rule under the Consumer Product Safety Act or 
     with a rule under this Act;
       ``(2) is subject to an order issued under section 12 or 15 
     of the Consumer Product Safety Act or designated as a banned 
     hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq.); or
       ``(3) is subject to a voluntary corrective action taken by 
     the manufacturer, in consultation with the Commission, of 
     which action the Commission has notified the public and that 
     would have been subject to a mandatory corrective action 
     under this or another Act enforced by the Commission if 
     voluntary action had not been taken by the manufacturer,

     unless the importing country has notified the Commission that 
     such country accepts the importation of such product, 
     provided that if the importing country has not so notified 
     the Commission within 30 days after the Commission has 
     provided notice to the importing country of the impending 
     shipment, the Commission may take such action as is 
     appropriate with respect to the disposition of the product 
     under the circumstances.''.

     SEC. 214. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF RECALLED PRODUCTS.

       Section 19(a) (as amended by section 210) (15 U.S.C. 
     2068(a)) is further amended--
       (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
       ``(1) sell, offer for sale, manufacture for sale, 
     distribute in commerce, or import into the United States any 
     consumer product, or other product or substance that is 
     regulated under any other Act enforced by the Commission, 
     that is--
       ``(A) not in conformity with an applicable consumer product 
     safety standard under this Act, or any similar rule under any 
     such other Act;
       ``(B) subject to voluntary corrective action taken by the 
     manufacturer, in consultation with the Commission, of which 
     action the Commission has notified the public;
       ``(C) subject to an order issued under section 12 or 15 of 
     this Act; or
       ``(D) designated a banned hazardous substance under the 
     Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq.);'';
       (2) by striking ``or'' after the semicolon in paragraph 
     (7);
       (3) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon in paragraph 
     (8); and
       (4) by striking ``insulation).'' in paragraph (9) and 
     inserting ``insulation);''.

     SEC. 215. INCREASED CIVIL PENALTY.

       (a) Maximum Civil Penalties of the Consumer Product Safety 
     Commission.--
       (1) Initial increase in maximum civil penalties.--
       (A) Temporary increase.--Notwithstanding the dollar amounts 
     specified for maximum civil penalties specified in section 
     20(a)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
     2069(a)(1)), section 5(c)(1) of the Federal Hazardous 
     Substances Act, and section 5(e)(1) of the Flammable Fabrics 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(1)), the maximum civil penalties for 
     any violation specified in such sections shall be $5,000,000, 
     beginning on the date that is the earlier of the date on 
     which final regulations are issued under section 3(b) or 360 
     days after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (B) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall cease to be in 
     effect on the date on which the amendments made by subsection 
     (b)(1) shall take effect.
       (2) Permanent increase in maximum civil penalties.--
       (A) Amendments.--
       (i) Consumer product safety act.--Section 20(a)(1) (15 
     U.S.C. 2069(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``$1,250,000'' both 
     places it appears and inserting ``$10,000,000''.
       (ii) Federal hazardous substances act.--Section 5(c)(1) of 
     the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(c)(1)) 
     is amended by striking ``$1,250,000'' both places it appears 
     and inserting ``$10,000,000''.
       (iii) Flammable fabrics act.--Section 5(e)(1) of the 
     Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(1)) is amended by 
     striking ``$1,250,000'' and inserting ``$10,000,000''.
       (B) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1) 
     shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the 
     earlier of--
       (i) the date on which final regulations are issued pursuant 
     to section 3(b); or
       (ii) 360 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (b) Determination of Penalties by the Consumer Product 
     Safety Commission.--
       (1) Factors to be considered.--
       (A) Consumer product safety act.--Section 20(b) (15 U.S.C. 
     2069(b)) is amended--
       (i) by inserting ``the nature, circumstances, extent, and 
     gravity of the violation, including'' after ``shall 
     consider'';
       (ii) by striking ``products distributed, and'' and 
     inserting ``products distributed,''; and
       (iii) by inserting ``, and such other factors as 
     appropriate'' before the period.
       (B) Federal hazardous substances act.--Section 5(c)(3) of 
     the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(c)(3)) 
     is amended--
       (i) by inserting ``the nature, circumstances, extent, and 
     gravity of the violation, including'' after ``shall 
     consider'';
       (ii) by striking ``substance distributed, and'' and 
     inserting ``substance distributed,''; and
       (iii) by inserting ``, and such other factors as 
     appropriate'' before the period.
       (C) Flammable fabrics act.--Section 5(e)(2) of the 
     Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(2)) is amended--
       (i) by striking ``nature and number'' and inserting 
     ``nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity'';
       (ii) by striking ``absence of injury, and'' and inserting 
     ``absence of injury,''; and
       (iii) by inserting ``, and such other factors as 
     appropriate'' before the period.
       (2) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, and in accordance with the procedures 
     of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, the Commission 
     shall issue a final regulation providing its interpretation 
     of the penalty factors described in section 20(b) of the 
     Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2069(b)), section 
     5(c)(3) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 
     1264(c)(3)), and section 5(e)(2) of the Flammable Fabrics Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(2)), as amended by subsection (a).

     SEC. 216. CRIMINAL PENALTIES TO INCLUDE ASSET FORFEITURE.

       Section 21 (15 U.S.C. 2070) is amended by adding at the end 
     thereof the following:
       ``(c)(1) In addition to the penalty provided by subsection 
     (a), the penalty for a criminal violation of this Act or any 
     other Act enforced by the Commission may include the 
     forfeiture of assets associated with the violation.
       ``(2) In this subsection, the term `criminal violation' 
     means a violation of this Act of any other Act enforced by 
     the Commission for which the violator is sentenced under this 
     section, section 5(a) of the Federal hazardous Substances Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 2064(a)), or section 7 of the Flammable Fabrics 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 1196).''.

     SEC. 217. ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.

       Section 24 (15 U.S.C. 2073) is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by striking ``private'' and 
     inserting ``additional'';
       (2) by striking ``Any interested person'' and inserting 
     ``(a) Any interested person''; and
       (3) by striking ``No separate suit'' and all that follows 
     and inserting the following:
       ``(b)(1) The attorney general of a State, alleging a 
     violation of section 19(a) that affects or may affect such 
     State or its residents may bring an action on behalf of the 
     residents of the State in any United States district court 
     for the district in which the defendant is found or transacts 
     business to enforce a consumer product safety rule or an 
     order under section 15, and to obtain appropriate injunctive 
     relief.
       ``(2) Not less than thirty days prior to the commencement 
     of such action, the attorney general shall give notice by 
     registered mail to the Commission, to the Attorney General, 
     and to the person against whom such action is directed. Such 
     notice shall state the nature of the alleged violation of any 
     such standard or order, the relief to be requested, and the 
     court in which the action will be brought. The Commission 
     shall have the right--
       ``(A) to intervene in the action;
       ``(B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all matters 
     arising therein;
       ``(C) and to file petitions for appeal.
       ``(c) No separate suit shall be brought under this section 
     if at the time the suit is brought the same alleged violation 
     is the subject of a pending civil or criminal action by the 
     United States under this Act. In any action under this 
     section the court may in the interest of justice award the 
     costs of suit, including reasonable attorneys' fees 
     (determined in accordance with section 11(f)) and reasonable 
     expert witnesses' fees.''.

     SEC. 218. EFFECT OF RULES ON PREEMPTION.

       In issuing any rule or regulation in accordance with its 
     statutory authority, the Commission shall not seek to expand 
     or contract the scope, or limit, modify, interpret, or extend 
     the application of sections 25 and 26 of the Consumer 
     Products Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2074 and 2075, respectively), 
     section 18 of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 
     1261), section 7 of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (15 
     U.S.C. 1476), or section 16 of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 
     U.S.C. 1203) with regard to the extent to which each such Act 
     preempts, limits, or otherwise affects any other Federal, 
     State, or local law, or limits or otherwise affects any cause 
     of action under State or local law.

     SEC. 219. SHARING OF INFORMATION WITH FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, 
                   AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.

       Section 29 (15 U.S.C. 2078) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:
       ``(f)(1) The Commission may make information obtained by 
     the Commission under this Act available (consistent with the 
     requirements of section 6) to any Federal, State, local, or 
     foreign government agency upon the prior certification of an 
     appropriate official of any such agency, either by a prior 
     agreement or memorandum of understanding with the Commission 
     or by other written certification, that such material will be 
     maintained in confidence and will be used only for official 
     law enforcement or consumer protection purposes, if--
       ``(A) the agency has set forth a bona fide legal basis for 
     its authority to maintain the material in confidence;

[[Page H16880]]

       ``(B) the materials are to be used for purposes of 
     investigating, or engaging in enforcement proceedings related 
     to, possible violations of--
       ``(i) laws regulating the manufacture, importation, 
     distribution, or sale of defective or unsafe consumer 
     products, or other practices substantially similar to 
     practices prohibited by any law administered by the 
     Commission;
       ``(ii) a law administered by the Commission, if disclosure 
     of the material would further a Commission investigation or 
     enforcement proceeding; or
       ``(iii) with respect to a foreign law enforcement agency, 
     with the approval of the Attorney General, other foreign 
     criminal laws, if such foreign criminal laws are offenses 
     defined in or covered by a criminal mutual legal assistance 
     treaty in force between the government of the United States 
     and the foreign law enforcement agency's government; and
       ``(C) in the case of a foreign government agency, such 
     agency is not from a foreign state that the Secretary of 
     State has determined, in accordance with section 6(j) of the 
     Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)), 
     has repeatedly provided support for acts of international 
     terrorism, unless and until such determination is rescinded 
     pursuant to section 6(j)(4) of that Act (50 U.S.C. App. 
     2405(j)(4)).
       ``(2) The Commission may abrogate any agreement or 
     memorandum of understanding entered into under paragraph (1) 
     if the Commission determines that the agency with which such 
     agreement or memorandum of understanding was entered into has 
     failed to maintain in confidence any information provided 
     under such agreement or memorandum of understanding, or has 
     used any such information for purposes other than those set 
     forth in such agreement or memorandum of understanding.
       ``(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this 
     paragraph, the Commission shall not be required to disclose 
     under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, or any 
     other provision of law--
       ``(i) any material obtained from a foreign government 
     agency, if the foreign government agency has requested 
     confidential treatment, or has precluded such disclosure 
     under other use limitations, as a condition of providing the 
     material;
       ``(ii) any material reflecting a consumer complaint 
     obtained from any other foreign source, if that foreign 
     source supplying the material has requested confidential 
     treatment as a condition of providing the material; or
       ``(iii) any material reflecting a consumer complaint 
     submitted to a Commission reporting mechanism sponsored in 
     part by foreign government agencies.
       ``(B) Nothing in this subsection shall authorize the 
     Commission to withhold information from the Congress or 
     prevent the Commission from complying with an order of a 
     court of the United States in an action commenced by the 
     United States or the Commission.
       ``(4) In this subsection, the term `foreign government 
     agency' means--
       ``(A) any agency or judicial authority of a foreign 
     government, including a foreign state, a political 
     subdivision of a foreign state, or a multinational 
     organization constituted by and comprised of foreign states, 
     that is vested with law enforcement or investigative 
     authority in civil, criminal, or administrative matters; and
       ``(B) any multinational organization, to the extent that it 
     is acting on behalf of an entity described in subparagraph 
     (A).
       ``(g) Whenever the Commission is notified of any voluntary 
     recall of any consumer product self-initiated by a 
     manufacturer (or a retailer in the case of a retailer selling 
     a product under its own label), or issues an order under 
     section 15(c) or (d) with respect to any product, the 
     Commission shall notify each State's health department or 
     other agency designated by the State of the recall or 
     order.''.

     SEC. 220. INSPECTOR GENERAL AUTHORITY AND ACCESSIBILITY.

       (a) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the 
     Commission shall transmit a report to Congress on the 
     activities of the Inspector General, any structural barriers 
     which prevent the Inspector General from providing robust 
     oversight of the activities of the Commission, and any 
     additional authority or resources that would facilitate more 
     effective oversight.
       (b) Employee Complaints.--
       (1) In general.--The Inspector General of the Commission 
     shall conduct a review of--
       (A) complaints received by the Inspector General from 
     employees of the Commission about violations of rules, 
     regulations, or the provisions of any Act enforced by the 
     Commission; and
       (B) the process by which corrective action plans are 
     negotiated with such employees by the Commission, including 
     an assessment of the length of time for these negotiations 
     and the effectiveness of the plans.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall transmit a 
     report to the Commission and to Congress setting forth the 
     Inspector General's findings, conclusions, actions taken in 
     response to employee complaints, and recommendations.
       (c) Complaint Procedure.--Not later than 30 days after the 
     date of enactment of this Act the Commission shall establish 
     and maintain on the homepage of the Commission's Internet 
     website a mechanism by which individuals may anonymously 
     report incidents of waste, fraud, or abuse with respect to 
     the Commission.

     SEC. 221. REPEAL.

       Section 30 (15 U.S.C. 2079) is amended by striking 
     subsection (d) and redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 
     subsections (d) and (e), respectively.

     SEC. 222. INDUSTRY-SPONSORED TRAVEL BAN.

       The Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 38. PROHIBITION ON INDUSTRY-SPONSORED TRAVEL.

       ``(a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding section 1353 of title 
     31, United States Code, no Commissioner or employee of the 
     Commission shall accept travel, subsistence, and related 
     expenses with respect to attendance by a Commissioner or 
     employee at any meeting or similar function relating to 
     official duties of a Commissioner or an employee, from a 
     person--
       ``(1) seeking official action from, doing business with, or 
     conducting activities regulated by, the Commission; or
       ``(2) whose interests may be substantially affected by the 
     performance or nonperformance of the Commissioner's or 
     employee's official duties.
       ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations for Official 
     Travel.--There are authorized to be appropriated, for each of 
     fiscal years 2009 through 2011, $1,200,000 to the Commission 
     for certain travel and lodging expenses necessary in 
     furtherance of the official duties of Commissioners and 
     employees.''.

     SEC. 223. ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

       Section 27(j) (15 U.S.C. 2076(j)) is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``The Commission'' and inserting ``Notwithstanding section 
     3003 of the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 
     1995 (31 U.S.C. 1113 note), the Commission''; and
       (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (11) as 
     paragraphs (6) through (12), respectively and inserting after 
     paragraph (4) the following:
       ``(5) the number and summary of recall orders issued under 
     section 12 or 15 during such year and a summary of voluntary 
     actions taken by manufacturers of which the Commission has 
     notified the public, and an assessment of such orders and 
     actions;''.

     SEC. 224. STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AUTHORITY RELATING TO 
                   IMPORTED PRODUCTS.

       The Commission shall study the effectiveness of section 
     17(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2066(a)), 
     specifically paragraphs (3) and (4) of such section, to 
     determine a specific strategy to increase the effectiveness 
     of the Commission's ability to stop unsafe products from 
     entering the United States. The Commission shall submit a 
     report to Congress not later than 9 months after enactment of 
     this Act, which shall include recommendations regarding 
     additional authority the Commission needs to implement such 
     strategy, including any necessary legislation.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Rush) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, today is indeed a grand day. Today is a day that we 
show the American people that this Congress, this House of 
Representatives, gets things done. Today the House will vote on 
sweeping bipartisan legislation that will protect our children from 
defective and dangerous toys and comprehensively reforms the Consumer 
Product Safety Commission.
  The bill before us today, H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety 
Modernization Act of 2007, was introduced by Chairman Dingell, Ranking 
Member Barton, Ranking Member Stearns, and myself. This historic bill 
authorizes desperately needed resources to the commission and 
dramatically rewrites the Consumer Product Safety Act as well as the 
Federal Hazardous Substances Act, both of which are administered by the 
CPSC. After decades of neglect, H.R. 4040 finally restores the CPSC to 
its rightful place of prominence and gives it the necessary tools to 
grapple with the global marketplace and protect America's consumers, 
particularly our children, from dangerous and defective products.
  This bill represents 8 months of work, five hearings, a subcommittee 
markup, and a full committee markup in which the final vote was 51-0. 
As chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer 
Protection, I am extremely proud of our collective efforts during this 
entire process.
  H.R. 4040 has two titles. Title I specifically addresses children's 
products by establishing the strictest lead standards in the world for 
children's products and requiring certification

[[Page H16881]]

and testing. Title II overhauls the CPSC itself, giving the beleaguered 
agency much-needed resources and strengthening its underlying organic 
statute. At both the subcommittee and full committee markups, the bill 
underwent significant changes: We strengthened the lead standard, 
raised the age requirement for mandatory testing to 12 years of age, 
required CPSC to appropriately tailor their corrective action plans to 
fit consumer needs, bestowed enforcement authority to State attorneys 
general, banned corporate-sponsored travel for CPSC employees, and 
preserved State common law rights of action.
  All of these excellent changes were made at the behest of the members 
of the Energy and Commerce Committee who offered their valuable input 
on how to make this underlying bill even better.
  Madam Speaker, I cannot emphasize enough the bipartisan nature of 
this bill. From the very beginning, we drafted this bill in 
consultation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, consumer 
groups, and industry. Madam Speaker, I want to sincerely thank the 
distinguished chairman of the full Committee on Energy and Commerce, my 
dear friend from Michigan, Mr. John Dingell, for his unparalleled 
leadership. This bill simply would not be possible without Chairman 
Dingell's guidance. Of course, I want to thank my friends, the 
distinguished ranking member of the committee, Mr. Barton; and the 
ranking member of the subcommittee, Mr. Stearns, for their incredible 
leadership and unwavering cooperation.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this historic bill.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
  Madam Speaker, I want to start off by congratulating Chairman John 
Dingell. I have with me today's Congress Daily, one of the news 
periodicals that tracks what we do. And on page 7 the headline is 
``House Panel Easily Passes Consumer Safety Legislation.'' It goes on 
to say that Dingell said he plans to approach the Speaker and ask her 
to put the bill on the Suspension Calendar because it passed committee 
51-0, and in the next paragraph it says that a leadership aide said it 
is unlikely that the bill could come to the floor before Congress 
adjourns for the year.
  Well, I just want to congratulate the chairman for going to Speaker 
Pelosi and getting her to agree to put this bill on the floor before we 
go home because this bill shows how the Congress should work. It didn't 
pass 51-0 because of serendipity. It passed 51-0 yesterday in the 
Energy and Commerce Committee because staffs on both sides of the aisle 
of both the full committee and the subcommittee met for countless hours 
to negotiate the many compromises necessary to put the bill together. I 
want to especially compliment Consuela Washington, the majority 
counsel, Chairman Dingell's counsel, who has worked so hard on this 
bill. If President Washington were still alive today, he would be very 
proud of her for the work that she's done because she has not only had 
to work with the minority staffers and members, she has also had to 
diligently work with the majority staffers and members as sometimes 
each side was pulling her in different directions. It's good to know 
that she's all in one piece and doing well.
  This bill will strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 
This bill will create a state-of-the-art testing laboratory to test the 
products and the toys that we sell to the American public. This bill 
will enhance the recall ability of the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission. This bill will expand the number of commissioners so that 
we have a full commission again. This bill increases the fines that the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission can levy against recalcitrant 
companies that sell defective products. And this bill has the toughest 
lead standard in the world for products.
  I wish it were my line, but it's not. Chairman Rush's line on the 
lead standard, in response to an amendment in committee to make it even 
tougher, said that God himself at Mount Horeb where He gave the Ten 
Commandments to Moses, that may have been the only holy ground in the 
world that would have met this standard. I thought that was just 
priceless in terms of trying to put in context how tough this standard 
is that the Lord Himself would have difficulty meeting the standard in 
the bill.
  So this is a good work product. It was done the right way. 
Negotiations with the stakeholders, negotiations with members, 
negotiations with the staff; an open markup at subcommittee; adequate 
time between subcommittee and full committee; a manager's amendment 
that was circulated so all members had a chance to see it; a full 
committee markup that lasted 2 days; numerous amendments that were 
offered, some withdrawn, some accepted, some modified. And the result 
was a 51-0 vote that occurred in full committee yesterday. And then 
again, thanks to Chairman Dingell's ability to get things done in the 
House, a Suspension Calendar vote today so that Members on both sides 
of the aisle have an attempt to put their stamp of approval on this 
very important piece of legislation.
  I'm very proud to have played a small part in this process, and I 
cannot urge in stronger language that we should pass this and send it 
to the other body so that they may also reciprocate.
  I predicted at the press conference 6 weeks ago or 2 months ago that 
something very close to this bill will be on the President's desk. We 
will have a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office or the Rose Garden 
on this legislation later in this Congress.
  So I'm very pleased to endorse it. I again thank all Members for 
their hard work, and a special commendation to Cliff Stearns, the 
former ranking member of the subcommittee, for his hard work.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Colorado (Ms. DeGette).
  Ms. DeGETTE. I want to thank the distinguished chairman of the 
subcommittee, Mr. Rush, for yielding me this time, and I want to 
congratulate him and my distinguished chairman, Mr. Dingell, for 
bringing this strong consumer protection bill to the floor so quickly. 
I also want to thank Congresswoman DeLauro, whom I have been working 
with on this legislation for a number of years, and I am so thrilled to 
see it on the floor.
  Madam Speaker, this year we have seen the number of children's 
product and toy recalls rise dramatically. Many of these recalls were 
because of the excessive amounts of lead, which is a very dangerous 
compound for children. As if parents didn't have enough to worry about 
this season, they're faced with another dilemma. Are the toys that they 
are buying safe? Today in the House we will act to make sure the answer 
to that question in the future is a resounding ``yes.''
  Back in September, with Congresswoman DeLauro, I introduced a bill to 
address this issue. I want to commend the good work of the Energy and 
Commerce Committee for incorporating many of the provisions of our 
bill, most of the provisions, into H.R. 4040 as it sits before us 
today.
  This bill takes a number of steps to protect kids under 12. For 
example, it almost doubles the funding for the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, which has been woefully underfunded and staffed. It bans 
lead in children's products and toys. It requires independent third-
party testing. And it bans industry-sponsored travel, which has been a 
scandal at the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
  Passing H.R. 4040 today is a crucial first step in making sure that 
children are safe from dangerous products. As parents like us are 
rushing to finish their holiday shopping this weekend, they can rest 
assured that the U.S. House of Representatives is on their side.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues early in the next 
session to make sure that the food parents are putting on their table 
is also safe.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I want to yield 5 minutes to the 
former chairman of the subcommittee and then the ranking member of the 
subcommittee, who is now the ranking member of the Telecommunications 
Subcommittee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).
  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)

[[Page H16882]]

  Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. As 
Chairman Barton has pointed out, it has been bipartisan, with 51 people 
voting for it and no one voting against it. We had a conscientious 
markup, particularly on several amendments. These amendments were 
defeated so that we had a little compromise involved.
  A lot of Americans should realize that the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission came into existence in 1973 as the agency to ensure consumer 
products, including toys, not to pose risks of injuries to our 
families, illness or death to consumers. Lots of times products are not 
used properly, and that causes a problem.

                              {time}  1400

  The Consumer Product Safety Commission cannot guarantee safety if the 
consumers don't use their products properly.
  They have 15,000 different products that they have to promulgate with 
standards. Fortunately, the Commission rarely has had to promulgate 
mandatory standards for all these products and can rely on voluntary 
standards that are simply developed by the industry itself.
  This bill, as Mr. Barton pointed out, is going to be signed in very 
short order after we pass this under suspension.
  Many of the Members on both sides talked about the growing compliance 
shortfalls with toys that are manufactured outside the United States, 
particularly in China. Specifically, our attention was focused on the 
spate of recalls which increased dramatically for toys with lead-based 
paints exceeding the United States limit. This was a problem we have 
rarely seen in 30 years since we passed the Federal ban on lead-based 
paint. I am pleased to report that manufacturers and retailers have 
stepped up to the plate in testing in response to these problems, and 
that's good.
  Nevertheless, my colleagues, toys have not been the only problem this 
year, as imports of every type of product increasingly account for our 
supply of goods, particularly from China. As our imports have risen 
over the years, so have the number of problems that have been 
associated with these products that come in. But the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission has met this daunting challenge and, as you can 
imagine, with 15,000 different kinds of products, they have issued more 
recalls over the last 2 years than any other time in our history. 
Despite this, we recognized the need to provide the Commission with 
additional resources, which we are doing today. We authorize 
significant increases in their budget so that the Commission may 
fulfill their mission to keep defective products that can cause injury, 
or worse, out of the stream of commerce.
  So, I'm pleased to report that the omnibus bill we passed this week 
includes increased appropriations for the Commission, so they're 
getting new resources.
  This bill is good public policy that not only provides the Commission 
with new resources, but, as was pointed out, much, much more. It 
provides for new standards regarding lead paint and implements the most 
stringent standard ever for lead content in children's products. The 
bill requires testing and certification of children's products before 
they are ever shipped to store shelves, and provides increased 
penalties for companies that violate the law.
  New laboring requirements will help facilitate effective recalls, and 
the bill provides greater authority for the Commission to recall 
harmful products and notify the public of these dangers. Very 
important; they have this extra recall authority.
  We have worked with the consumer groups, industry, and the Commission 
to make this a bipartisan, sound bill that works effectively. So I 
commend Chairman Rush, I commend, obviously, Mr. Dingell, and I commend 
our ranking member, Chairman Barton, on their willingness to make this 
an open process. We talked about it, and the result is what we see 
today, a bipartisan bill that has the support of the House.
  So, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I look forward to its 
implementation into law.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady 
from Connecticut, the vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Ms. 
DeLauro.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, when the toys our children play with are 
no longer safe, government must respond. Today's bill represents a 
first step forward, an active response to an agency which has failed to 
take its regulatory responsibilities seriously for far too long, an 
agency that does not understand its regulatory function. We are 
addressing the Consumer Product Safety Commission's mandate, and trying 
to reform it in a meaningful way.
  I have been proud to work with my colleague, Congresswoman DeGette, 
and other colleagues from the Energy and Commerce Committee to hone, to 
strengthen this bill. We all recognize that the American people must be 
able to depend on the system responsible for protecting them.
  I especially want to thank Congresswoman Anna Eshoo who fought to 
strengthen the mandatory recall provision governing products that pose 
an imminent hazard. This new authority will allow the CPSC to provide 
notice and halt distribution without protracted legal proceedings.
  I am pleased that I could partner with my colleagues to strengthen 
this bill in other ways as well, requiring tracking labels and product 
registration cards for durable and nursery products, providing the 
additional resources the CPSC needs to get its act together, 
instituting a ban on industry-sponsored travel, and providing for 
protections for children under the age of 12.
  I do not believe that we have gone far enough and that we must go 
further. I look forward to making this bill stronger still, working 
through the conference to address its shortcomings.
  Under this bill, we must make it clear that States will not be 
preempted. Attorneys General should not be limited when pursuing 
remedies or penalties. At a time when the number of dangerous products 
entering our markets are skyrocketing, this is a problem we need to fix 
now. We should be bringing more allies to our fight, not fewer.
  Also, we are still not tough enough on third-party testing. There are 
still loopholes that leave manufacturers to conduct their own tests. 
The days of industry self-policing must come to an end. And I believe 
the current provision banning lead, although long overdue, has 
problematic exemptions. Health advocacy experts have testified to the 
need to place its threshold at 40 parts per million and urge more 
timely implementation. With our children's health at stake, we should 
listen to the experts.
  Government has an obligation to its citizens; it's that simple. This 
bill represents a first step forward in meeting that obligation, 
striving to make sure dangerous toys and products do not slip through 
the cracks and into our children's hands.
  During this holiday season, we cannot afford to wait any longer. I 
urge a ``yes'' vote on this legislation.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. May I inquire as to the time I have remaining, 
Madam Speaker?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Tauscher). The gentleman from Texas has 
11 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Illinois has 11\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. I ask unanimous consent to yield 6 of my 11 
minutes to Mr. Rush for him to control.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Illinois now has 17\1/2\ 
minutes remaining.
  Mr. RUSH. I want to thank the gentleman.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. And of the 5 minutes I still control, I want to 
yield two of those minutes to the new ranking member of the Consumer 
Protection and Trade Subcommittee, Mr. Whitfield.
  Mr. WHITFIELD. Madam Speaker, I certainly want to congratulate 
Chairman Dingell, Ranking Member Barton, Chairman Rush and Ranking 
Member Stearns.
  Recently, we've read many articles about products coming out of 
China, whether it be wheat gluten, whether it be contaminated 
toothpaste, whether it be excessive lead in the paints of toys, and all 
of us are quite excited about this legislation, H.R. 4040, for the 
reformation that it makes in the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

[[Page H16883]]

  One thing that I would point out, and other people have already said 
it, but the new standards regarding lead paints implements the most 
stringent standard ever for lead content in children's products in this 
legislation. So, this is an exciting day for the American people. I 
think it shows that Congress does have the ability to meet very 
important problems facing our country.
  I look forward to the passage of this legislation today, and 
certainly want to thank the staff for the hard work that they did on 
both sides of the aisle.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Stupak).
  Mr. STUPAK. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
time.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Consumer Protection Safety 
Modernization Act, of which I am a cosponsor. There is no better time 
to pass this legislation than right now before the holidays when 
parents are buying toys for their children.
  After months of recalls of Chinese-manufactured toys, it is evident 
that the Consumer Protection Safety Commission lacks strong authority 
and needs additional resources to protect the safety of our children 
and loved ones.
  This legislation will implement a graduated reduction of lead 
standards, reducing 100 parts per million, a level unmatched anywhere 
in the world.
  The bill will also require manufacturers to include tracking labels 
to aid in the event of a recall on all toys intended for children 12 
and younger, and mandate third-party testing of toys for lead by labs 
accredited by the CPSC.
  This legislation strengthens the commission by authorizing 
significant increases in funding levels over the next 3 years, allowing 
the Product Safety Commission to hire additional employees, which has 
been at an all-time low since their inception. Furthermore, this 
legislation provides an additional $20 million to modernize CPSC's 
testing laboratory to ensure safe products.
  Madam Speaker, I applaud Chairman Dingell, Chairman Rush, Mr. Barton 
and Mr. Stearns for bringing this bill to the floor. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in voting in favor of this bill.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a distinguished member 
of the full committee, Dr. Murphy of Pennsylvania.
  Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank my distinguished ranking 
member.
  In 2007, there have been 61 toy recalls, which translates to about 25 
million toys. This number is up significantly from the 40 recalls of 5 
million toys we had last year. And this is what we caught.
  This bill will help protect consumers. The real culprits remain, 
however, the trading partners who refuse to abide by international 
standards, countries like China and others who have lax oversight, who 
happen to be the leading countries that are involved with these 
appalling rates. That's why this bill is so important, because it is up 
to us to set sound and safe standards and enforce them.
  In addition, I am pleased the committee will be looking at further 
research to look at the issue of pet toys, pet toys that may themselves 
have lead and other toxic metals that are unregulated. Not only is this 
a concern in exposure for the family pet, but also because many of 
these toys themselves are inviting to children. Young children 
themselves may pick them up, put them in their mouth, and get these 
toxic substances on their hands.
  As people do their shopping this holiday season, perhaps what we 
should be doing as a Nation, before this bill is signed by the 
President and goes into effect, instead of judging products by cheap 
prices, we should all be looking for quality and safety that comes from 
buying American products.
  With that, I thank the committee.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from 
California (Ms. Harman).
  Ms. HARMAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, I am enjoying my return to the Commerce Committee, 
where I serve under a great chairman, John Dingell.
  Our committee has a history of producing strong bipartisan 
legislation. The regular order works, and we do good work when we 
follow it.
  As a grandmother and grandmother-to-be, I watched in horror this 
summer as millions of toys were pulled off of American store shelves 
due to lead-tainted paint, detached magnets, and other hazards. I was 
further dismayed because Mattel, one of the companies responsible, is 
headquartered in my congressional district and employs 2,000 of my 
constituents to design and market its toys. I am pleased to say that 
Mattel has worked hard to fix its problems, though I will continue to 
recommend that it move some of or all of its manufacturing back to this 
country, where quality can be carefully monitored.
  Madam Speaker, for all the reasons my colleagues have mentioned, H.R. 
4040 is a landmark bill. It sets a high bar for toy manufacturers like 
Mattel, and strengthens government scrutiny of industry. H.R. 4040 was 
written the right way, the bipartisan way, and through the regular 
order of the House. In terms of process, it is a model for Congress at 
its best, and grandmothers, grandmothers-to-be, children, and our 
committee will be better for it.
  I urge passage of this bill.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure now to yield 2\1/2\ 
minutes to the gentlelady from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding to me. And I 
thank you, Chairman Dingell, Ranking Member Barton and vice chairman of 
the subcommittee, Mr. Stearns, for bringing this bill to fruition.
  This is the season of giving, but parents today are worrying about 
whether the toys they buy for their children will be safe or a 
potentially lethal hazard.
  The Chicago Tribune recently tested 800 toys and found a wooden 
butterfly in an Oak Park toy store with 85,000 parts per million of 
lead, 142 times the legal limit.

                              {time}  1415

  A Superman figurine contained 33,000 parts per million. The 
Associated Press followed up with their own tests, and 35 percent of 
the toys they looked at were contaminated with lead levels above the 
legal limit.
  We should have a Consumer Product Safety Commission that is 
aggressive in protecting our children, our most precious resource. We 
should, but we don't. Unfortunately, the CPSC acting chairwoman seems 
content with the status quo.
  H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, recognizes 
that the status quo of daily recalls, injuries and deaths is not 
acceptable. I support this bill because it provides new authority and 
resources to make products, particularly children's products, safe.
  There are many important provisions in this bill. It would virtually 
ban lead in products intended for children age 12 and younger. It will 
mandate independent third-party testing for hazards in children's 
products and improve the recall process. It includes provisions from 
legislation I introduced to require long-overdue mandatory safety 
standards for durable infant and toddler products and strengthen recall 
effectiveness by requiring them to include recall registration cards.
  I hope we can make this bill even stronger. Even with added resources 
authorized from the bill, a major improvement from the levels requested 
by President Bush, we could do better, particularly when it comes to 
monitoring imports. I support measures to add mandatory premarketing 
testing and other important things. But ultimately, we need to pass 
this legislation.
  I support measures to add mandatory premarketing testing, tough 
whistleblower protections and the assurance that injured consumers will 
have full rights to hold wrongdoers accountable. And while I support 
provisions to encourage manufacturers to report dangerous products, I 
remain concerned about the effect those provisions would have on 
criminal liability and hope we can take a further look at this.
  Ultimately no legislation will be successful if the CPSC continues to 
shirk its mandate of protecting consumers. I want to thank Chairman 
Dingell and Chairman Rush for their hard work on this bill and for 
their commitment to

[[Page H16884]]

holding vigorous oversight of CPSC's activities. I look forward to 
working with them to make this bill even stronger.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. I continue to reserve my time.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Carney).
  Mr. CARNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  Madam Speaker, like so many before me, I rise today in support of the 
Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, H.R. 4040. As the father of 
five, I am very concerned about our children's safety. This legislation 
creates the toughest lead standard in the world for children's 
products, and I could not be prouder to support it.
  I have held town hall meetings all across my district in 
Pennsylvania, and lead in children's toys remains a constant concern 
for parents. We need to know that our children are not playing with 
hazardous toys. We all know that lead poisoning can be extremely 
dangerous. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 
lead poisoning in children is associated with behavioral problems, 
learning disabilities, growth retardation and even death.
  As the holidays approach, this legislation is even more urgent. 
Requiring mandatory safety standards for nursery products and mandatory 
third-party testing of children's products will help stop the problem 
of lead toys before they hit the shelf. In addition, this legislation 
requires tracking labels to aid in recalls. I have been working with 
the CPSC to ensure that recalled items are removed from store shelves 
as quickly and as safely as possible.
  My office has worked to make sure the public knows when there is a 
recall and how to take action. This holiday season, I urge all parents 
to check where the toy has been made and keep up to date with the 
recall e-mail notices provided by the CPSC. I am proud to offer my 
strong support for this critical legislation.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Waxman).
  Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, today the House will take up legislation 
that, in the great tradition of the Energy and Commerce Committee, was 
reported out of the committee unanimously. I would have voted for it as 
well had I not been on the House floor presenting another piece of 
legislation. I want to commend Chairman Dingell, Subcommittee Chairman 
Rush, and Ranking Members Barton and Stearns for their great 
accomplishment.
  This bill will develop a standard that will protect children from the 
dangers associated with lead exposure. It will create a national 
standard that is one of the strongest in the world and ensure that our 
toys are as safe as possible. This is an accomplishment that we all can 
be proud of. But let me point out that no one piece of legislation can 
make all the changes that we need at the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission. What we need to continue to look for are ways to further 
improve the CPSC.
  We must ensure that the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the 
public get, and can appropriately use, information from manufacturers 
about the safety of their products. We must also ensure that the States 
have all the tools they need to permit them to fully assist the CPSC in 
its task because they will continue to be vitally important partners in 
enforcing the law.
  Every day, Americans rely on the Consumer Product Safety Commission 
to protect them from dangerous products. To date, frankly, it has not 
done its job. This bill is the first step in changing direction and in 
making the CPSC the effective agency the American people expect and 
deserve. I know this will be a continuing effort on the part of the 
committee, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on that 
committee in a bipartisan way, I hope, to ensure that we achieve this 
goal.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the distinguished gentleman.
  Madam Speaker, this is the holiday season. For many of us, this is 
Christmas. And I believe we owe a debt of gratitude to the Energy and 
Commerce Committee, Mr. Rush; the chairman of the full committee, Mr. 
Dingell; all of the people who worked so hard; Ms. DeLauro who is not 
on the committee but who worked hard on this issue; and my good friend 
from Texas (Mr. Barton) who today declared an enormous Christmas gift. 
He said the President is going to sign this in near order. Maybe it 
will be tonight or tomorrow, and we will come back with our Santa Claus 
hats on. I chair the Congressional Children's Caucus, and this is a 
mighty important step going forward.
  I am delighted to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 4040, and I am 
really pleased that we responded immediately in an emergency posture. 
Can you imagine, Mr. Rush, listening to a member of the Consumer 
Product Safety Commission saying, ``We need no more resources, 
everything is well.'' And can you imagine parents as they push the wee 
hours of the morning, of course not them, working with Santa, to get 
toys for their children, to be able to have to question whether these 
toys are safe? In fact, in my own district, I am hearing that parents 
are questioning, and the purchases of gifts are down, toys are down 
because they just don't know what is safe.
  This is a good bill. It instructs those who are dealing with children 
that there has to be important oversight. I am working, as well, and 
hope that as we move forward to expand the responsibilities of the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission that we will also look to language 
that I have in legislation that I have filed, or will be filing, 
dealing with the prohibition of imports of children's products without 
third-party testing for certification.
  This kind of oversight is crucial. Lead kills. So many times we have 
fought against lead in housing and fought against various, if you will, 
owners of apartments. Many times we have waged a battle against lead in 
our public housing, section 8 housing or dilapidated housing that many 
poor Americans have to live in. We have fought against that. Lead 
kills. Lead is poison. But can you imagine that right under our very 
noses we had goods and toys that, in fact, our children bought or their 
family members bought and they played with that would kill?
  H.R. 4040, I believe, will save lives. It is an important statement. 
It is a holiday statement. It is an important statement to indicate 
that children of America are first. I ask my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds.
  Madam Speaker, I just want to take a moment to commend the work of 
the staffs on both sides of the aisle. We have a dedicated, hardworking 
staff that has done tremendous work over the weekends and into the wee 
hours of the morning. They have made it possible for this outstanding 
bill to come before this Congress for the American people. I want to 
commend them for their outstanding work.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. I continue to reserve my time.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Serrano).
  (Mr. SERRANO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SERRANO. I want to thank the gentlemen, both the chairman and the 
ranking member of the subcommittee and the ranking member of the full 
committee, for this very important legislation.
  My reason for speaking is simply to inform you of what you may 
already know has taken place on the bill that we voted on the other 
night. The commission had a budget of $62 million. The President's 
request was $63 million. During our hearing process, our subcommittee 
oversees the agency, we were shocked to hear from them that they didn't 
need any more money. In the middle of such a crisis, they were the only 
agency in the Federal Government saying, ``Don't give us any more 
money.''
  Well, understanding the need and within the limited resources, we 
went from this year's $62 million to a full $80 million, and I wish it 
could have been $280 million. The purpose of my comments is to remind 
both sides that since we increased the dollars by $18

[[Page H16885]]

million, it was a message that we were all sending that we understand 
the need to take care of these issues and to react in a very positive 
way. And so it falls on us now to be very vigilant to make sure that 
they do the work that they are supposed to do.
  There is nothing more important in my opinion at this present moment 
than to ensure the American people that products that are coming into 
this country and products that are being produced in this country are 
safe and proper for their children, for their families. We can do it 
through this bill. We can do it through the appropriations that we had 
the other night. I thank all of you again for being very vigilant in 
this kind of work.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Tauscher). The gentleman is recognized 
for 3 minutes.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I already complimented the 
majority on their process. I also want to compliment the majority and 
the minority on both sides on the policy. This bill has the toughest 
lead standards in the world for children's products. Let me repeat 
that. The bill before us has the toughest lead standards in the world 
for children's products.
  It is phased in. The timetable may not be quite as aggressive as some 
of our consumer advocates would like it to be, but it is a fact that if 
this bill gets through the Senate, and I hope it will, the President 
signs it, and I know he will, we will have the toughest lead standards 
in the world for children's products.
  It has a premarket approval process that is a major reform over the 
current practice, so that no product will be put into the marketplace 
until it has been adequately and aggressively tested before it goes to 
market. That is another major change from the current law.
  The Consumer Product Safety Commission is a small agency. I believe 
it has less than 500 employees. But it is a very important agency. And 
I think it is important for the authorizing committees to do due 
diligence in their oversight and to also do due diligence in 
reauthorizing their agencies. I was very proud in the last Congress 
that for the first time in 14 years we reauthorized the National 
Institutes of Health and put in several major reforms.
  I am glad in this Congress that we are working on a bipartisan basis 
to reauthorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission. I look forward, 
once we pass this piece of legislation, to work with the majority to 
take a look at the Federal Communications Commission. I believe it 
could use some reforms, too, and I know Chairman Dingell and 
Subcommittee Chairman Markey have some of those same concerns that I 
have.
  I urge a strong ``yes'' vote on this legislation.
  With that, Madam Speaker, I would yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure and my privilege to yield 
such time as we have remaining to the chairman of the full committee, 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell).
  Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I thank my distinguished friend for 
yielding to me.
  I want to express my commendations to the chairman of the 
subcommittee, Mr. Rush, for his outstanding leadership in this. I am 
proud, indeed, of your work here. I also want to say a word of praise 
to my dear friend, the chairman and the ranking member of the Commerce 
Committee, Mr. Barton, and also Mr. Stearns, who have served so well. 
Working with them has been a privilege and a pleasure. I want to salute 
them for what they have accomplished.
  I also want to salute the staff. We have on this committee, on both 
sides of the aisle, a superb staff. I will not mention all of their 
names, but I do want to express my appreciation to Consuela Washington 
for the outstanding leadership she showed in the very difficult work 
that was done here. But that doesn't demean any member of the staff on 
either side of the aisle. They are superb, dedicated, wonderful public 
servants, and we owe them a great debt of thanks.
  H.R. 4040 is a superb piece of legislation. Is it perfect? No. But 
it's as good as can ever be achieved in this place. It shows that the 
House of Representatives can work together, and in a 51-0 vote we have 
established that the Commerce Committee still carries forward its 
traditions of working well together and moving forward the business of 
the House in a proper, bipartisan fashion. In that, we may all, indeed, 
be proud. It shows a real vigorous collaborative effort by all members 
of the committee to craft a commonsense solution to the consumer safety 
problems that have received so much public attention in the past year.
  We have developed, with input from government, consumer advocate 
groups and industry stakeholders, a bill which represents a 
comprehensive approach to improving consumer safety. Most importantly, 
the bill contains a very significant reauthorization, the first in 15 
years at CPSC, and it gives that agency remarkably enhanced tools to 
enforce the compliance of both domestic and imported consumer products 
with laws and regulations that will enable the CPSC to do a much better 
job of protecting our Nation's people and our children.
  I want to conclude, again, by thanking my good friends and colleagues 
who have worked so hard on this. I want to comment on the fine works of 
Representative DeGette, Representative Schakowsky, Representative 
Capps, and Representative Harman, who provided extraordinarily fine 
leadership to us as this matter went through the committee.
  Again, I want to stress what a pleasure it has been to work with the 
chairman of the subcommittee, the ranking minority member of both the 
full committee and the subcommittee, and my gratitude to all of the 
members for the extraordinary way in which they have put together a 
piece of legislation in which this body may indeed be proud.
  There will be some carping about the legislation, but I remind all 
that the perfect good is oft times the enemy of the good. We are moving 
forward speedily and well to protect our consumers in a proper fashion 
and to do so in a timely fashion and in a way which ensures not only 
the protection of the people, but the protection of the people in a 
timely and speedy fashion and a proper response to the concerns that 
all have set forward. I, again, thank my colleagues.
  Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, I commend Chairman Dingell and 
Subcommittee Chairman Rush for their intensive efforts to produce 
bipartisan legislation to overhaul a beleaguered agency, the Consumer 
Product Safety Commission, CPSC. As a tsunami of toxic toys flooded 
into our country and onto store shelves earlier this year, it became 
clear that the CPSC was unequipped to perform its vital mission--
protecting the public from significant risks of serious injury or death 
from toys and other consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. 
Chairman Dingell and Chairman Rush moved swiftly to respond to this 
crisis of confidence in the CPSC, holding important hearings that 
exposed major weaknesses at the agency, including an under-resourced 
and demoralized staff, a lead standard that enabled unsafe lead content 
in children's products, weak leadership provided by Acting Chairman 
Nancy Nord and other problems that made the CPSC the ``Can't Protect 
the Safety of Children'' agency. I congratulate my distinguished 
colleagues for their work.
  When the Energy and Commerce Committee considered this legislation 
yesterday, I voted for it. H.R. 4040 mandates many important 
improvements at the CPSC and includes much-needed increases in 
resources for the Commission. Specifically, the bill:
  Bans lead beyond a minute amount in products intended for children 
under 12.
  Requires mandatory safety standards for nursery products, such as 
cribs and high chairs.
  Mandates that the CPSC examine the current voluntary safety standards 
for toys, starting with dangerous magnets, and if found to be 
inadequate, requires mandatory standards to be adopted.
  Significantly increases CPSC resources to hire additional staff and 
for laboratory renovations, including $20 million to modernize the 
testing lab. The bill allots $80 million for FY2009, $90 million for 
FY2010 and $100 million for FY2011.
  Prohibits the export of products that violate U.S. consumer product 
safety rules, are subject to mandatory or voluntary recalls, are 
designated an imminent hazard to public health and safety, or are 
designated as a banned hazardous substance. Similarly, the bill makes 
the domestic sale of such products a prohibited act.
  Bans CPSC commissioners and staff from accepting trips paid for by an 
organization regulated by the CPSC.

[[Page H16886]]

  While this legislation contains urgently needed reforms, I hope that 
additional enhancements can be made as the bill moves through the 
legislative process. During committee consideration, I offered two 
amendments that I believe would have further strengthened this 
legislation. My first amendment would have created a ``Public Right To 
Know'' at the CPSC. In 2000 and again in 2003, the CPSC documented 
cases of children suffering intestinal injuries after swallowing small 
but powerful magnets that had fallen out of toys. The public didn't 
know, and the CPSC did nothing. By mid-2005, after more reports of 
safety concerns associated with the magnets and two reports of life-
threatening injuries, the public still didn't know, and the CPSC still 
did nothing. On Thanksgiving Day 2005, Kenny Sweet died after 
swallowing magnets that had fallen out of Magnetix toys. And it was 
only then that the CPSC finally started to pay attention--but it wasn't 
until the following March and an additional 4 children were 
hospitalized with injuries that CPSC reached an agreement with the 
manufacturer to issue a partial recall, and the public finally got an 
inkling of what was going on.
  The fundamental problem, even with the positive changes made by 
Section 206 of this bill--Publicly Available Information on Incidents 
Involving Injury or Death--is that right now, the only product 
information one can find on the CPSC Web site is information about 
products that CPSC has been both able to investigate and get 
manufacturers' approval to release, or information that does not 
identify which specific products are causing problems and is therefore 
of no real use to consumers.
  My amendment was very simple. It required the CPSC to create a 
publicly searchable database that would allow consumers to access 
specific reports CPSC obtains from doctors, hospitals or other 
individuals of serious injury or death, or risk of serious injury or 
death that may be due to a faulty or unsafe product. In addition, 
manufacturers were required to send similar allegations they receive to 
the CPSC for publication in the database. The language also required 
CPSC to include a disclaimer that states that each report is provided 
for informational purposes only and that the commission has not 
investigated the report and cannot vouch for its accuracy, so that no 
one would confuse a single report from a consumer with a formal recall 
by the CPSC.

  My amendment was developed to empower the public by enabling mothers 
and fathers to find out whether a product they might buy for their 
child might pose a risk--without waiting the months or years it could 
take for CPSC to take action. Although the committee did not approve 
this amendment, I hope that such protections can be added as this 
legislation moves forward.
  My second amendment would have restored the CPSC's authority to 
investigate accidents occurring on rides located at amusement parks. 
While CPSC has the authority to investigate rides that are transported 
to carnivals and county fairs--and 15,000 other categories of consumer 
products that can endanger consumers--there is no Federal regulation of 
rides located at amusement parks.
  A recent Washington Post report contained an extensive, front page 
investigation of the dangerous consequences of this regulatory black 
hole. It is entitled ``On Thrill Rides, Safety Is Optional--No Federal 
Oversight of Theme Parks.'' I recommend this important article to my 
colleagues.
  My amendment was developed to put an end to a special interest 
loophole that prevents Federal consumer safety experts from 
investigating serious and sometimes fatal accidents even when they 
believe action is merited. As a result of this loophole, children and 
other ride enthusiasts are put at risk of serious injury and even death 
due to the absence of any Federal regulation. States are left to 
monitor the safety of these rides, and 23 States do not even permit 
State authorities to investigate accidents that occur at fixed-site 
amusement park rides within the State.
  Some argued that State regulation is sufficient. I disagree. I 
received a letter from a former senior executive in the amusement park 
industry who also served as a board member for the International 
Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, IAAPA--the amusement 
park industry's trade association. This individual was closely involved 
in the effort in 1981 to carve out the loophole for fixed-site rides 
that my amendment would have closed. In his letter, he wrote: 
``Insurance programs mandated by States or maintained by the operating 
amusement park companies are often touted as assuring ride safety but 
many of these programs have gaping holes rendering the programs 
essentially meaningless. Some State licensing or inspection programs 
were created to serve not the public, but the industry, providing an 
illusory aura of safety. I now believe that I was wrong 25 years ago 
and that the industry should be regulated.''
  As this industry insider has now admitted to himself, the time has 
come to stop using the good intentions and vigorous safety efforts of a 
few--be they an active State, a particularly attentive company, or even 
a past board member of the industry's trade association--to cover up 
the negligence, unsafe practices, and manufacturing defects that are 
routinely maiming and killing children and adults on rides. Thousands 
of people are injured every year on these rides, and people die on them 
every year.
  My amendment did not mandate the creation of a new fleet of CPSC 
amusement park inspectors who would be required to fan out across the 
country to check every amusement park ride. My amendment merely 
permitted the CPSC--whenever it believed that the public safety would 
be served--to investigate accidents at amusement parks, share 
information with operators of rides across State lines, compile 
statistics that help inform consumers about safety risks and take 
similar actions to protect the public. Under current law, the hands of 
CPSC inspectors are tied when it comes to rides at amusement parks, 
which are off limits to Federal safety regulators. My amendment simply 
would have freed these inspectors to investigate these rides, when CPSC 
believes it is warranted. There are now about 90 safety inspectors, 
some of whom currently investigate accidents at carnival rides--these 
inspectors and others to be added under this bill--should be permitted 
to check the safety and investigate accidents at amusement parks.
  I am pleased that Chairman Rush committed to holding a hearing on 
this important issue, and I hope that we will soon close the roller 
coaster loophole, which continues to put children at risk when they 
board rides at amusement parks around our country.
  As this bill proceeds, I also hope that there will be advancements in 
several other areas, including raising the cap on civil penalties for 
safety violations, improving pre-market testing of toys and other 
consumer products, and eliminating industry's ability to prevent 
disclosure to the public of significant safety risks by tying the 
commission up in Federal court.
  Madam Speaker, I again commend Chairman Dingell and Chairman Rush for 
their work on this important bill, and I look forward to working with 
them in the future on the important consumer protection issues facing 
our country.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Consumer 
Product Safety Modernization Act, H.R. 4040. Like all products of 
compromise, it does not contain everything all of us would have liked. 
But it is a positive step forward in an area of public policy crying 
out for reform, and I am glad we are able to make this progress today.
  Given recent press reports about unsafe levels of lead in children's 
toys, this legislation appropriately establishes the toughest lead 
standard in the world when it comes to children's products. 
Additionally, while not going as far as it ultimately should, H.R. 4040 
subjects a much broader range of products to independent, third-party 
review.
  I am also pleased that the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act 
reverses the recent underfunding of the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, CPSC, by increasing its authorization to $100 million by FY 
2011--including an additional $20 million to modernize the CPSC's 
testing lab. It is neither reasonable nor responsible to task an agency 
with a job as important as protecting the public health without 
providing the resources necessary to accomplish that task.
  Finally, this bill takes concrete steps to improve public notice of 
product recalls and strengthen enforcement against bad actors in the 
consumer market.
  As we begin discussions aimed at finalizing this legislation with the 
Senate, I hope we will be able to make additional improvements to this 
bill by broadening the scope of mandatory product testing, enhancing 
families' right to know, and including robust whistleblower protections 
for those courageous enough to Bring serious safety hazards to light.
  Madam Speaker, the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act is a 
good start. I look forward to working with my colleagues to achieve the 
strongest possible consumer protection legislation in the months ahead.
  Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
4040--the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act of 2007, not only 
as a Member of Congress, but as a grandmother as well. As I prepare to 
spend the holidays with my grandchildren, Anna and Robby, it makes me 
pause to consider how this legislation will benefit them and the 
children and grandchildren across the country. This year we have 
witnessed an unprecedented number of dangerous toys and products make 
their way to the shelves of American stores, resulting in thousands of 
recalls and Safety warnings. We cannot allow this trend of unsafe 
products in our homes to continue. Congress must act.
  The bill before us today, which I am proud to co-sponsor, will 
improve the ability for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, 
to protect the American public from unsafe products. The CPSC has the 
enormous

[[Page H16887]]

task of monitoring approximately 15,000 types of products. Over 27,000 
deaths and 33 million injuries are associated with consumer products 
each year. We must ensure that the CPSC has the resources and authority 
necessary to ensure that the toys and products that we buy for our 
loved ones are safe. This legislation does precisely that.
  The Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act takes a number of 
important steps to keep our children and grandchildren safe. For the 
first time, we will have a standard set for levels of lead in 
children's products. This will be one of the most rigorous standards in 
the world. It will also increase civil penalties against manufacturers 
of hazardous products, and establish a third-party certification and 
testing system for children's products. These and the many other 
provisions contained within H.R. 4040 will provide the CPSC with the 
tools required to monitor the evergrowing number of products under its 
jurisdiction.
  Created in 1973 during the height of the consumer movement, the CSC 
was unfortunately downsized during the 1980s. It has never recovered 
from those changes, and has not been updated since 1990. Today's 
legislation will also expand the authority of the CPSC to ensure that 
only safe toys and products are in our stores and homes.
  The CPSC exists to protect Americans from harmful products. We expect 
that consumer products have been adequately screened and deemed safe 
before they hit the shelves of our stores. Only by updating the CPSC 
and expanding its authority can it's mission be accomplished in today's 
globalized market. Public safety must always trump other concerns. The 
generations of lawmakers that have gone before us had the wisdom to 
invest in this agency, and it is now our responsibility to modernize 
and make long overdue improvements to the CPSC that will keep American 
families safe and restore faith in the agency.
  I want to congratulate Chairman Dingell and the rest of the Energy 
and Commerce Committee for their hard work on this bill. The 
legislation that we are considering today has enjoyed strong bipartisan 
support, clearly demonstrated by its unanimous approval by the full 
committee. I hope that the House will come together in a similar 
bipartisan way to advance this important bill.
  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4040, the 
Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act.
  This has been called the ``Year of the Recall'' because there's been 
a complete failure by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to keep 
harmful and sometimes lethal products from getting on the shelves. Red 
tape, lax enforcement, and a shortage of resources at the CPSC have 
contributed to the recent recalls. It's not a coincidence that 25.6 
million toys were recalled from stores in fiscal year 2007, compared 
with only 5 million toys in 2006. Things are falling through the cracks 
at the CPSC, and it's the American consumers, especially children, who 
are suffering.
  It's become glaringly obvious that we can't rely on manufacturers to 
police themselves, we need to give our chief consumer regulatory agency 
the authority and the resources to get unsafe products off the shelves.
  This bill is a significant improvement in product safety from the way 
we're operating now. It provides additional funding to the CPSC and 
bolsters the commission's ability to test and identify dangerous 
products. It also authorizes State Attorneys General to bring action on 
behalf of their residents to enforce federal consumer safety rules.
  H.R. 4040 reduces lead levels in children's products, but in my view 
it doesn't go far enough. The amendment I offered in committee would 
have brought lead levels to 40 parts per million, the standard 
recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It's my hope that 
the CPSC will take seriously its authority to adopt a more protective 
standard if it makes the determination that it is feasible and 
protective of human health.
  I'm proud that my amendment to give the CPSC mandatory recall 
authority is included in the bill. This is an important tool for the 
CPSC to wield against the most nefarious companies who resist a recall 
of their faulty products.
  I support this bipartisan bill to protect American consumers, 
especially children, and ask my colleagues to support it as well.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to share my strong support 
of H.R 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act. As we near 
the end of the holiday shopping season, the critical nature of this 
legislation cannot be overstated.
  2007 truly has been the Year of Toxic Toys, and I join my colleagues, 
as well as parents across the nation in expressing extreme alarm at not 
only the number--more than 2 million--of toys that have been recalled, 
but also at the names that have been associated with them--Toys 'R Us, 
Fisher Price, and Mattel.
  Madam Speaker, these are not just random toys being picked up at some 
dime store; these are toys being produced by popular, long-established 
companies whose names parents trust. Sadly, it appears that this trust 
may be misplaced.
  Toxic levels of lead in the paint have been detected on the popular 
Thomas the Tank Engine. GHB--the date rape drug--was found in the 
popular Aqua Dots, at levels high enough to put children in comas. I 
could offer seemingly endless examples of the atrocities that have been 
lining the shelves of our toy stores--and of our children's bedrooms--
with more regard being placed on profit over protecting children's 
health. But, Madam Speaker, I will focus instead on something more 
alarming than these toys themselves: how they are getting into the 
market in the first place.
  Madam Speaker, we have an agency called the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission. Let me re-emphasize this--the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission.
  Its name alone suggests protection against hazardous products, so how 
is it possible that parents are purchasing toys with 200 times the 
legal level of lead?
  How is it possible, that more than two million toys were able to slip 
past this agency, which by definition is charged with being a watchdog 
for our--and our children's--safety?
  The answer, Madam Speaker, is that under the current administration 
and the previous leadership in Congress, the CPSC has seen drastic cuts 
in funding. More disturbing than the lax oversight of safety is the 
chairwoman of the CPSC, Nancy Nord, voicing opposition to increased 
funding or authority.
  I cannot say that I have met anyone who is opposed to getting more 
money--especially when the person in question is charged with an agency 
whose mission is so critical--and especially when this agency has one 
person--one person--assigned to testing toys.
  Madam Speaker, only 15 inspectors are policing the hundreds of points 
of entry for our imported toys--and I might add that 80 percent of toys 
in the U.S. are imported from China. The CPSC has only 85 percent of 
the employees it had in 2004, and only half of the employees it had 30 
years ago.
  This is shocking to the conscience and completely unacceptable. If 
Ms. Nord and the CPSC are unwilling to do what they ought to do, we 
must step in and do it ourselves. Our young people's health and futures 
depend on it. With H.R. 4040, we are taking steps to protect our most 
vulnerable consumer: our children.
  This legislation bans all but trace amounts of lead in toys and 
children's jewelry. It strengthens the CPSC's ability to notify 
consumers about dangerous products more quickly and more widely. It 
bans the importation of toys or other children's products that have not 
been tested and do not conform to U.S. standards--meaning no more toys 
containing the date rape drug.
  And, although Ms. Nord did not want any monetary gifts, we will be 
stuffing the CPSC's stocking with much needed supplemental funding this 
holiday season.
  In closing, I thank my friend and colleague, Representative Rush for 
understanding the current crisis and for introducing this much needed 
legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in 
supporting H.R. 4040. Let's come together to ensure that 2009 is the 
Year of Safe Consumerism.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 4040, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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