NEWS RELEASE

Committee on Energy and Commerce
Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman

House Approves Motion to Conference on Consumer Product Safety Legislation

Legislation Raises Safety Standards for Toys; Increases Resources, Authority for CPSC

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved a motion to proceed to conference with the Senate on landmark consumer product safety legislation. The House version of the legislation is sponsored by Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI) and Joe Barton (R-TX), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Chairman and Ranking Member of its Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, and Whitfield’s predecessor Cliff Stearns (R-FL). The bill was passed unanimously by the Committee on Energy and Commerce on December 18, 2007, and by the full House the next day, on December 19, 2007.

H.R. 4040, the “Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act of 2007,” contains provisions to create the toughest lead standard in the world for children’s products, and significantly increases funding and staff for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Democratic conferees from the House include Dingell, Rush, Diana DeGette (D-CO), Vice Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Henry Waxman (D-CA), both members of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce held three hearings last fall amidst its investigation into lead-tainted toys and CPSC effectiveness.

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