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Pelosi: New Direction Congress Dubs 2008 the ‘Year of Consumer Protection’
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Contact:Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement tonight after the Senate voted 89 to 3 to pass the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act conference report. The House passed the bill by a 424 to 1 vote yesterday; the bill now goes to President Bush for his signature into law:
“Consumers Union dubbed 2007 the ‘Year of the Recall;’ today, the New Direction Congress dubs 2008 the ‘Year of Consumer Protection.’
“With Senate passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, Congress has passed legislation on behalf of our nation’s most valuable resource – our children.
“The legislation strengthens our ability to prevent dangerous toys from getting to market; get products off the shelves more quickly; and increases fines and penalties for violating product safety laws. It eliminates lead beyond a minute amount in toys and bans toxic phthalates in children’s toys and child care articles. The bill also requires mandatory independent testing of toys and strengthens protections against imports of dangerous toys from China and other countries.
“In addition, the legislation provides the Consumer Product Safety Commission with significantly greater resources to protect America’s consumers, including additional staff to test and monitor the toys on our stores’ shelves.”
