[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 8, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5804-H5805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
E-WARRANTY ACT OF 2015
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (S. 1359) to allow manufacturers to meet warranty and labeling
requirements for consumer products by displaying the terms of
warranties on Internet websites, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 1359
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``E-Warranty Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Many manufacturers and consumers prefer to have the
option to provide or receive warranty information online.
(2) Modernizing warranty notification rules is necessary to
allow the United States to continue to compete globally in
manufacturing, trade, and the development of consumer
products connected to the Internet.
(3) Allowing an electronic warranty option would expand
consumer access to relevant consumer information in an
environmentally friendly way, and would provide additional
flexibility to manufacturers to meet their labeling and
warranty requirements.
SEC. 3. ELECTRONIC DISPLAY OF TERMS OF WRITTEN WARRANTY FOR
CONSUMER PRODUCTS.
(a) In General.--Section 102(b) of the Magnuson-Moss
Warranty--Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act (15 U.S.C.
2302(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the rules
prescribed under this subsection shall allow for the
satisfaction of all requirements concerning the availability
of terms of a written warranty on a consumer product under
this subsection by--
``(i) making available such terms in an accessible digital
format on the Internet website of the manufacturer of the
consumer product in a clear and conspicuous manner; and
``(ii) providing to the consumer (or prospective consumer)
information with respect to how to obtain and review such
terms by indicating on the product or product packaging or in
the product manual--
``(I) the Internet website of the manufacturer where such
terms can be obtained and reviewed; and
``(II) the phone number of the manufacturer, the postal
mailing address of the manufacturer, or another reasonable
non-Internet based means of contacting the manufacturer to
obtain and review such terms.
``(B) With respect to any requirement that the terms of any
written warranty for a consumer product be made available to
the consumer (or prospective consumer) prior to sale of the
product, in a case in which a consumer product is offered for
sale in a retail location, by catalog, or through door-to-
door sales, subparagraph (A) shall only apply if the seller
makes available, through electronic or other means, at the
location of the sale to the consumer purchasing the consumer
product the terms of the warranty for the consumer product
before the purchase.''.
(b) Revision of Rules.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall
revise the rules prescribed under such section to comply with
the requirements of paragraph (4) of such section, as added
by subsection (a) of this section.
(2) Authority to waive requirement for oral presentation.--
In revising rules under paragraph (1), the Federal Trade
Commission may waive the requirement of section 109(a) of
such Act (15 U.S.C. 2309(a)) to give interested persons an
opportunity for oral presentation if the Commission
determines that giving interested persons such opportunity
would interfere with the ability of the Commission to revise
rules under paragraph (1) in a timely manner.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Burgess) and the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Loebsack) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and insert extraneous materials into the Record on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the E-Warranty Act of 2015 modernizes current warranty
requirements by allowing manufacturers to post product warranty
information online.
I certainly want to thank Senator Fischer and Congressman Mullin for
crafting bipartisan legislation opening a path for manufacturers to
conduct their business more efficiently in the digital age.
This legislation will give consumers better access to warranty
information, while retaining flexibility for sellers and reducing costs
for manufacturers. The Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously
forwarded the companion bill, H.R. 3154, to the House floor in July
after consideration by the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and
Trade.
The subcommittee has been studying how the use of the Internet and
other advanced technologies is generating great advances for consumers
and creating jobs. Simple things like this will create savings across
multiple industries.
We will continue to look for ways to roll back outdated regulations
that slow down our e-commerce, economy and hurt jobs. This legislation
does just that by bringing warranty regulations into the 21st century.
I urge my colleagues to vote for S. 1359.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LOEBSACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1359, the E-Warranty Act
of 2015. I am pleased the House is considering this bipartisan,
bicameral legislation. S. 1359 is identical to H.R. 3154, the E-
Warranty Act of 2015, which I was very, very happy to introduce with my
good friend, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Mullin).
This commonsense legislation will bring product warranties into the
21st century by allowing warranty information to be posted online. This
solution makes sense for both manufacturers and consumers, as many of
which prefer the option of providing or receiving warranty information
in electronic rather than paper form.
Not only will this bill reduce waste, it will make it easier for
consumers to
[[Page H5805]]
find warranty information quickly and easily, without worrying that it
will be lost or discarded.
I thank the committee for bringing this bill forward, and I urge
support for this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Oklahoma (Mr. Mullin), the author of the House-sponsored legislation.
Mr. MULLIN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Chairman Burgess and the
committee for allowing this bill to come to the floor. This is one of
those commonsense bills that brings a regulation that was put in place
nearly 40 years ago and brings it to today's technology.
This bill has passed the Senate by unanimous consent and is identical
to H.R. 3154 that Congressman Loebsack and I introduced and which
passed the committee by voice vote. This bipartisan E-Warranty Act of
2015 gives manufacturers the option of fulfilling their warranty notice
requirements by posting the information on the Web site.
Our current Federal regulation, as I stated earlier, was developed
nearly 40 years ago. The world has changed since then, and, like many
regulations, this has become outdated. Warranty requirements ensure
consumers get important information when they purchase a product, and
we need to make sure the methods for delivering this information keep
pace with innovation.
I urge all Members to vote ``yes'' on this commonsense bill.
Mr. LOEBSACK. Mr. Speaker, it appears that I have no further
speakers, so I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I would just simply add that I encourage
all Members to vote in favor of the legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1359, the E-
Warranty Act. And I want to thank Mr. Loebsack and Mr. Mullin for their
contributions to the bill.
The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission to amend its current
rules on warranty notice to allow the pre-sale notice requirements to
be fulfilled by making warranty information available online. While I
support this commonsense proposal, I would like to highlight one point
that the bill rightly acknowledges--there are many consumers and small
business owners without Internet access.
This bill requires that contact information of the product
manufacturers be made available so consumers may obtain warranty
information by non-electronic means. To ensure that consumers and small
business owners without Internet access are not disadvantaged, this
Committee expects the FTC to require that consumers be provided with a
toll-free phone number and warrantors respond to non-Internet requests
for free and in a timely manner.
Moreover, I am confident that when the FTC changes its rules pursuant
to this bill, it will maintain the protections that currently exist for
consumers and small business owners who do not have Internet access,
including requiring manufacturers to ensure sellers can fulfill their
obligations under the bill and the rules.
This bill will help modernize the rules regarding pre-sale warranty
notice by allowing warranty information to be made available online. I
urge my colleagues to support this bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, S. 1359.
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. BURGESS. 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, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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