Last week, the House of Representatives voted 407-to-0 to approve a consumer product safety bill that greatly increases the scope and power of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). We have given CPSC acting chairman Nancy Nord a lot of grief for giving mixed signals to Congress on whether or not she actually wants the CPSC to have more power, but on the same day of the vote, she released a public letter condoning the bill and officially offering her support.

I want to thank the U.S. House of Representatives for passing landmark legislation today that finally gives the CPSC the additional tools and resources to address the growing issue of imports and other important product safety issues.

Back in July, I submitted to Congress a list of 41 specific legislative recommendations to give the agency added enforcement powers and tools, like the ability to require that all products covered by a mandatory safety standard be tested and certified to that standard. I have also repeatedly requested adequate resources and personnel to be able to effectively use these new tools. Today’s House action and the recent passage of the Omnibus Appropriations Act are significant steps toward giving the agency both the tools and resources we need to better protect American consumers.

I want to congratulate the members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, particularly Chairmen John Dingell and Bobby Rush and Ranking Members Joe Barton and Cliff Stearns, for their leadership and hard work and that of their staffs on this, the most significant product safety legislation since the creation of the agency. Theirs was a truly bipartisan and comprehensive effort to craft and pass sound legislation and for that I am truly grateful. This bill vests the agency with significant new missions and mandates. I am committed to fully utilizing all the provisions of the bill for the benefit of the American people.

I urge the Senate to follow the House’s lead in passing bipartisan and sensible product safety legislation. The Senate and Congress should not go home this year without sending a bill to the President and I continue to stand ready to assist in that effort.

A committee in the Senate has ratified a similar bill, but it has yet to be voted on before Congress can present a final unified bill to the President sometime in 2008.

“US Consumer Product Safety Commission Acting Chairman Nancy Nord Applauds House Vote on Landmark Consumer Product Safety Legislation” [CPSC.gov]
(Thanks to burgundyyears for also seeing this, although burgundyyears seems pretty angry at us for making a Wild at Heart joke at Nord’s expense.)
(Photo: CPSC)

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