Congress takes some key consumer actions before holiday recess

Congress left town for the holidays Thursday, after giving consumer safety advocates some of the items on their wish list, and leaving them tantalizing close to others.

Congress made substantial progress on a number of key issues—most notably the House’s unanimous passage of a bill to update the Consumer Product Safety Commission to help it become more effective in regulating the 15,000 types of products under its purview. The measure still has a way to go before it can become law. The Senate has yet to consider its version, which includes stronger enforcement provisions than the House version and has run into some opposition.  Even so, we are pleased that so many in Congress realize how important it is to reform our current product safety system.

The House bill is a compromise that is supported by a number of consumer groups including Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, the Consumer Federation of America, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. It would make meaningful improvements to the under-funded and understaffed agency and includes a major provision to reduce lead in children’s toys and other products. It also establishes new testing requirements for children’s products. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark), the author of the Senate version, has said he is “one hundred percent committed to passing” the Senate version in 2008. We can’t imagine a better way to start the New Year.

While we wish the effort to upgrade the CPSC’s powers had been completed in 2007, we are pleased that both the House and Senate did agree to boost the agency’s budget to $80 million this fiscal year. That’s a $17 million increase, or nearly 30 percent, over last year’s funding and more than $16.75 million more than what President Bush requested for the current fiscal year.  The measure is part of an omnibus federal funding bill to keep the government running. So far, the CPSC hasn’t said what it plans to do with the extra money but we await that announcement with eager interest.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention two other key consumer actions taken in the last minute press to adjourn for the holidays.

A pool-safety bill was attached to the omnibus energy law (as a way around a parliamentary roadblock to passing it on its own)  that was signed by President Bush on December 19. The measure seeks to combat drowning, the second leading cause of accidental death for children ages 1 to 14, by encouraging states to adopt laws that would require fences or other physical barriers around pools to prevent unauthorized access, and suction outlet drain covers and safety vacuum release systems to prevent entrapment. “Quite simply, the passage of this legislation means that fewer children will die from drowning in swimming pools or spas,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla), the author of the measure, “Three hundred and thirty-five children died in the United States in 2004 and basic pool safety legislation would have dramatically reduced those childhood fatalities.” (The legislation is  named after Virginia Graeme Baker, daughter of safety crusader Nancy Baker  who died at the age of seven after she became entrapped in a hot tub drain).

Meanwhile, the House passed a measure aimed at reducing injuries and fatalities to young children in and around motor vehicles. The Cameron Gulbransen Transportation Safety Act, is named for a two-year-old child who died when his father accidentally backed over him in his driveway.  The bill addresses three serious safety problems: getting caught in an automatically closing power window; being struck by a backing vehicle because of an unacceptable blind zone; and placing a vehicle in gear that results in an uncontrolled roll away without having to depress the brake. 

The legislation directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to issue new standards within specific time periods that will lead to the installation of safety technologies as standard equipment in all vehicles to help prevent future tragedies like the one that befell Cameron. These safety technologies are already available as standard equipment, upgrades or optional equipment in many makes and models of vehicles.  The bill also requires the department to establish a database of non-crash incidents and develop a program to provide the public with safety information regarding non-traffic dangers to young children.   

While the Senate did not take up the measure in the final hours of the Congressional session, the Senate leadership pledged to try and move this bill quickly in the next session of Congress.

We think Congress filled our stocking more than half full. Let's hope the New Year provides even more to celebrate.