[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 14, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H3854-H3856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 4040, CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 
                           MODERNIZATION ACT

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table 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, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate 
amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.


        Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Whitfield of Kentucky

  Mr. WHITFIELD of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct 
conferees.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Whitfield of Kentucky moves that the managers on the 
     part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes 
     of the two Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 
     4040 be instructed to insist upon the provisions contained in 
     the House bill.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) 
will be recognized for 30 minutes each.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
  Mr. WHITFIELD of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  On December 19 of last year, this body spoke with a resounding voice 
of approval for our Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act. The 
measure passed by a unanimous vote of 407-0.
  I would like to thank Chairman Dingell; Ranking Member Barton; 
Chairman Rush; and my predecessor, Mr. Stearns, for the great job that 
they did in getting this bill through the House.
  H.R. 4040 is a bipartisan product. We worked for 4 months and in the 
end came up with a stringent but reasoned approach to strengthen the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission and to vastly improve the safety of 
our children's products. The result was a bill that creates the 
toughest lead standard in the world and imposes mandatory safety 
standards on products for young children. To ensure such standards are 
met, we require third-party testing and certification of children's 
products and we nearly double the Consumer Product Safety Commission 
budget over 4 years to ensure both the new safety standards and the 
testing and certification requirements are met.
  All the new standards and increased enforcement in the world will not 
help parents unless they also know about dangerous products. We 
therefore require improved public notice of recalls as well as tracking 
labels on all children's products so parents can identify recalled toys 
when they hear about them. We also loosened restrictions to allow the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission to release critical product safety 
information to the public when people face an imminent health and 
safety standard.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 4040. I know that this is a work 
product that will maximize our opportunity to protect children from 
dangerous toys and products, and I urge and hope that the House 
managers will stand by the provisions which passed this Chamber 
unanimously only 5 months ago and insist upon the measures of H.R. 
4040, as passed by the House.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on the motion to instruct under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak on behalf of the 
thoroughly bipartisan legislation underlying this motion. I begin with 
a commendation to my good friend from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) and to 
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, including Mr. Barton, the 
ranking minority member, and the other members of the subcommittee and 
full committee who have worked so hard on this legislation on both 
sides of the aisle.
  I would observe that this is a thoroughly bipartisan piece of 
legislation. It passed out of the committee 51-0, and it passed the 
House 407-0. It is one of the most important consumer protection bills 
to come before this House in this Congress. It is crucially important 
for us to have such legislation signed into law this year. And I want 
to point out that without it, people will remain at risk from dangerous 
products and from an important Federal regulator who will remain both 
underfunded and incapable of acting properly to take care of consumers' 
legitimate concerns with regard to the safety of all manner of products 
from toys from the very beginning of life right through the time that 
we enter the graveyard.
  On December 19, 2007, the House passed this legislation then without 
a dissenting vote. It represents extraordinary work by the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, and it shows how bipartisanship can function, and 
it shows how an excellent staff on both sides of the aisle working 
together can bring before us legislation that is in the broad overall 
public interest. The Senate substituted its version of the bill on 
March 6, 2008. Some elements of the Senate bill are problematic, but 
others are indeed worthy of serious consideration by the conference 
committee. The differences between the two bills are outweighed by 
their similarities. There is no reason why the House conferees should 
not return here in short order with a workable, balanced, and strong 
conference report deserving the full support of the House and upon 
which I intend to work closely with my good friends on the minority 
side, as we have so far.
  I want to remind my colleagues what the House bill does. It bans lead 
beyond the most minute amount in products intended for children under 
12 years of age. It mandates premarket testing by certified 
laboratories for lead and other hazards in children's products, and it 
sees that those laboratories are properly qualified and able to carry 
out their important responsibilities. It places requirements on 
manufacturers to enhance recalls. It empowers the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, CPSC, to share information about dangerous products 
immediately. It requires CPSC to provide public access to a database of 
serious injuries and deaths caused by consumer products, but it does so 
requiring also that the information be truthful, correct, and properly 
verified. It prohibits the sale and export of recalled products. It 
ensures that CPSC effectively shares information with the States. And 
it bans industry-sponsored travel by CPSC Commissioners and their 
staff.
  I want to observe that the motion is a good one. I support it. I 
commend my

[[Page H3855]]

good friend from Kentucky for his offering of it and for his leadership 
in the handling of this legislation.
  I again want to pay my respects and compliments to my colleagues on 
the Republican side and to my colleagues on this side for the 
outstanding way in which they have put together this legislation.
  I urge that the House support the motion to instruct offered by my 
good friend from Kentucky.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WHITFIELD of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for 
those kind remarks.
  And, Mr. Speaker, I would just reiterate I think we have a great 
product. I think we have a wonderful opportunity in conference to come 
out with a great product.
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, on December 19, 2007, the last day of the 
session before the holiday season, the House of Representatives passed 
H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act. The vote was 
407-0. Today, with this Motion to Instruct Conferees, we are taking yet 
another step towards fulfilling our pledge to the American people to 
protect their children from dangerous products and overhaul the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission. I am confident that in the coming 
weeks, we can resolve all of the differences between the House and 
Senate versions of their respective bills and send a strong piece of 
legislation to the President that he will sign into law.
  We have much to be proud of in the House version of consumer product 
safety reform legislation. H.R. 4040 was introduced by Chairman 
Dingell, Ranking Member Barton, Ranking Member Steams, and me. This 
historic bill, of which I am the lead sponsor, 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, the House bill restores the CPSC to its rightful 
place of prominence and gives it the necessary tools to grapple with 
the global marketplace and protect American consumers, particularly 
children, from dangerous and defective products.
  The House bill is the culmination of a deliberative, bipartisan 
process that entailed countless meetings with consumer groups, 
industry, and staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In the 
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, we held five 
hearings before our subcommittee markup. The full-committee reported 
H.R. 4040 as amended with a vote of 51-0. As Chairman of the 
Subcommittee, I am extremely proud of our collective efforts during 
this process.
  H.R. 4040 has two titles. Title I specifically addresses children's 
products by establishing the strictest lead standard in the world for 
children's products and requiring certification and testing. Title II 
overhauls the CPSC itself, giving the beleaguered agency much needed 
resources and strengthening its underlying organic statutes. At both 
the Subcommittee and Full Committee mark-ups, the bill underwent 
significant changes: We strengthened the lead standard, raised the age 
requirement for mandatory testing to 12, required CPSC to appropriately 
tailor their corrective action plans to fit consumer needs, granted 
emergency recall authority to CPSC, bestowed enforcement authority to 
state Attorneys General, banned corporate-sponsored travel for 
Commission employees, and preserved state common law rights of action.
  All of these excellent changes were made at the behest of members of 
the Energy and Commerce Committee who offered their valuable input on 
how to make the underlying bill better. The House bill is much stronger 
than the Senate bill in numerous ways, and it is my hope that our 
friends on the other side of the Capitol will agree to adopt those 
provisions in the final version that becomes law. Of course, likewise, 
the Senate bill has provisions absent in the House bill that are worthy 
of consideration and adoption. Indeed, the final product of a good 
conference should reflect the very best work of both bodies of 
Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot emphasize enough that ours is a bipartisan bill 
that, from the very beginning, we drafted in consultation with 
Democratic and Republican members, the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, consumer groups, and industry. I want to sincerely thank 
the distinguished Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, my 
dear friend, John Dingell, for his unparalleled leadership. This bill 
simply would not be possible without his guidance. Of course, I also 
want to thank my friends, the distinguished Ranking Member of the 
Committee, Joe Barton, and the former Ranking Member of the 
Subcommittee, Cliff Stearns, for their leadership and unwavering 
cooperation.
  I hope H.R. 4040 returns to the floor in a few weeks in the form of a 
conference report that the House can pass in unanimous fashion, just as 
we did on the last day of session last year. If we continue our 
deliberative approach of bipartisan cooperation, I am confident that we 
can do so and will eventually send to the President's desk a bill that 
will become law. I am confident that all of us will be able to go home 
to our constituents and tell them that we have done our job to protect 
American consumers and their families from dangerous and defective 
products.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the Motion to Instruct 
Conferees.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, as a physician, parent, and policy maker, I 
understand that we need to work together to protect our children. I'm 
proud to say we have done that. The House crafted and passed a 
comprehensive, commonsense bill that boosts CPSC funding and personnel, 
bans lead in children's products, requires third-party product testing, 
and increases penalties for those who break the law.
  I went to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission labs. I saw 
first hand the need for more resources.
  I went to the International Toy Fair in New York City. I saw first 
hand the increasing number of toys coming into this country, as well as 
the measures that industry is taking to keep toys safe.
  Our bill takes into account the needs the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, the needs of consumers, the needs of the industry, but most 
importantly, the need to keep our children safe.
  The House was able to put politics aside to keep children safe. While 
also providing more resources in a pragmatic, bipartisan approach.
  This Motion to Instruct recognizes these efforts and will help this 
important bill to be enacted into law.
  Mr. WHITFIELD of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. 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, this 15-
minute vote on the motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 4040 will be 
followed by 5-minute votes on the Ryan motion to instruct conferees on 
S. Con. Res. 70; and the motion to suspend the rules and adopt House 
Resolution 789, as amended.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 405, 
nays 0, not voting 28, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 320]

                               YEAS--405

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Bonner
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Carter
     Castle
     Castor
     Cazayoux
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cohen
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Lincoln
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Everett
     Fallin
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foster
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (TX)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Holden

[[Page H3856]]


     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Jordan
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kucinich
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sali
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Saxton
     Scalise
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Walz (MN)
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--28

     Bilbray
     Boehner
     Bono Mack
     Braley (IA)
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     DeGette
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Emanuel
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gordon
     Hall (NY)
     Hirono
     Issa
     Lewis (KY)
     Mack
     Miller, George
     Myrick
     Paul
     Ross
     Rush
     Schmidt
     Shimkus
     Westmoreland
     Wynn

                              {time}  1907

  So the motion to instruct was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 320, I was 
unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the Chair appoints the 
following conferees on H.R. 4040: Messrs. Dingell, Waxman, Rush, Ms. 
DeGette, Ms. Schakowsky, Messrs. Barton of Texas, Whitfield of 
Kentucky, and Stearns.
  There was no objection.

                          ____________________