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Politics

: The Gavel

House Passes Final Legislation Protecting Kids from Toxic Toys

By Jesse Lee

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The House has jus passed the final agreement on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, H.R. 4040, by a vote of 424-1. This landmark, bipartisan legislation takes several key steps to make children and all Americans safer, including essentially eliminating lead from toys and children?s products; prohibiting the use of dangerous phthalates in children?s toys and child care products; and providing the Consumer Product Safety Commission with significantly greater resources and personnel. This critical legislation is supported by the nation?s consumer groups, including the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union. In its letter to the conferees in support, a coalition of seven key consumer and public interest groups states, ?This ground-breaking measure will help ensure that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has the resources and regulatory authority it needs to protect consumers and repair our long-broken product safety net. Thanks to your efforts, our children will be living in a safer world.?

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Speaker Pelosi: “2007 was dubbed the ?Year of the Recall? by Consumers Union. More than 45 million toys and children?s products were recalled last year, and some were found to contain nearly 200 times the legal amount of lead. Toy trains, costumes, magnets, balls and even baby bottles were among the common everyday items found to be harmful to our children. What is a parent to do? This year, dangerous toy and product recalls are happening at an even swifter rate - the number of recalls of toys and children?s products is up 22 percent over the first half of last year. What is a parent to do? Most of the toys that are recalled should never have found their way on to the shelves of the local toy stores.”

Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-01): “For a long time now, we have all realized that our consumer products safety system is broken. The CPSC clearly needed more staff, more resources and more authority. Our consumer protection laws needed to be brought into the 21st Century. This legislation goes a long way to solving those problems. I’m so proud to have been one of the House conferees on H.R. 4040…”

Full post as published by The Gavel on July 30, 2008 (boomark / email).