[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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