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Current Legislation
Consumers and Privacy Protection
Consumer Product Safety
Congresswoman Lowey strongly believes that American consumers should have confidence in the safety of the products they purchase. That is why she urged the President to appoint a non-partisan safety advocate as the new Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a position which was vacant for over six months. The CPSC, which is tasked with protecting the public from any risk of injury or death for more than 15,000 products, had been left unable to operate in the absence of a chair.
Lowey has also introduced legislation to close a gaping loophole in toy safety. The Choking Hazard Awareness Act would ensure that the same hazard warnings and labels required on toy boxes are also clearly listed on online retail sites and in catalogs. This common sense safety measure could help reduce the more than 70,000 toy-related emergency room visits reported every year.
Lowey also cosponsored legislation banning lead beyond minute amounts in children’s products; requiring mandatory third-party testing for children’s products; requiring tracking labels to aid in recalls; increasing penalties for safety violations; and providing much-needed resources to the CPSC.
Protecting Children from Online Sexual Predators
Congresswoman Lowey has fought hard to protect children from online sexual predators. She was a cosponsor of the Jacob Wetterling Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which became law as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006.
She has also cosponsored several other bills to crack down on predators who seek to take advantage of children. These bills would assist the Federal Trade Commission with internet safety initiatives, provide grants for schools and other groups to promote internet safety, penalize electronic communication service providers that knowingly allow illicit and illegal images to be posted on their networks, and require sex offenders to include email addresses in sex offender registries.
Open and Fair Access to the Internet
Congresswoman Lowey strongly supports “net neutrality” proposals that will keep the Internet open and fair. In 2006, the House considered legislation that would have allowed the owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet to control how consumers would receive content, creating a tiered system that favors certain content. Net neutrality is necessary to protect consumer choice and prohibit discriminatory networking and pricing practices.
Television Choice
Congresswoman Lowey strongly supports consumers’ ability to choose from multiple providers of television services. Most households in
Regulating Sunscreen Standards
Millions of Americans spend substantial time outdoors in the summer months, using over-the-counter sunscreen they believe protects them and their families from the sun’s dangerous ultraviolet radiation. However, for many years there have been regulation only for UVB radiation, not for harmful UVA rays. Following Congresswoman Lowey’s introduction of legislation to require the FDA to issue comprehensive sunscreen standards that protect against skin cancer and sunburn-causing UVA and UVB rays, a set of similar guidelines was proactively issued by the FDA in August 2007.
Protecting Food-Allergic Consumers
Approximately 200-250 of the 11 million Americans who suffer from food allergies die each year from allergic reactions. Over 30,000 others suffer severe, even life-threatening reactions. To ensure that a product is allergen-free, the parents of food-allergic children must scrutinize ingredient statements for every food product they purchase, every time they shop. Unfortunately, even when consumers consistently read labels, they still can’t be assured that a product is safe to eat.
To combat this problem, Rep. Lowey introduced the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act which became effective on January 1, 2006. The Act requires that food ingredient statements identify in everyday language the presence of the eight major food allergens–peanuts, tree nuts, fish, Crustacean shellfish, eggs, milk, soy, and wheat. Food ingredient statements are also required to identify food allergens used in spices, natural or artificial flavorings, additives, and colorings.
American families deserve to feel confident about the safety of the food that they eat. Lowey’s bill will allow food-allergic consumers to more easily identify a product’s ingredients, protect themselves from foods that would harm them, and stay healthy.
Rep. Lowey is also fighting to ensure that children with food allergies are safe in school. In 2008, the House passed her bill, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act, which would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a policy for schools to voluntarily implement measures to prevent exposure to food allergens and assure a prompt response when a child suffers a potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction.
Ensuring the Safety of Our Food Supply
Although the Food Safety Inspection Service has the power to shut down a food processing plant when it does not comply with food safety laws and regulations – and it should continue to exercise that power – it does not have the authority to levy civil monetary penalties against plants in violation of food safety laws. Rep. Lowey introduced legislation giving the Secretary of Agriculture authority to seek civil monetary penalties from plants that violate
Current federal law also allows most manufacturers to decide whether they want to stamp expiration dates on food packaging. This is unacceptable. Lowey authored the Food Freshness Disclosure Act, which would require manufacturers to put expiration dates on food packaging.
Do Not Call Registry
Recognizing that millions of Americans are forced to deal with unsolicited and unwanted phone calls in their homes and on their cell phones, Congresswoman Lowey voted twice to give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the authority to create and operate a National Do Not Call telemarketing registry which is now in effect. The FTC’s rules require telemarketers to check the registry every three months to see who doesn’t want to be called. Telemarketers who call names on the list can be fined up to $11,000 for each violation.
Lowey also opposes efforts to create a cell phone directory unless an individual explicitly chooses to have his or her number published. Most people consider their cell phone numbers private, and no one should be able to publish anyone’s information unless that person has gone out of his or her way to give permission for publication. For more information or to sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry, please visit http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall.
Preventing Unsolicited Communication
Congresswoman Lowey voted to create the National Do Not Call Registry, which prevents telemarketers from making unsolicited and unwarranted phone calls. Lowey also opposes efforts to create cell phone directories unless an individual explicitly chooses to have his or her name published. For more information or to sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry, please visit http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall.
In addition to unsolicited phone calls, “spam” emails and faxes must be stopped. That is why Lowey voted for laws to prevent spam to allow consumers to opt out of unsolicited e-mail messages.
Fighting Media Consolidation
Since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced new media consolidation rules on June 2, 2003, to allow companies to own a greater number of media outlets in each market, Congresswoman Lowey has fought to promote diversity. She supported efforts, which were ultimately successful, to prevent enactment of the original proposed rule, which would have allowed a single media company to own enough television stations to reach as much as 45% of the
Protecting Your Identity and Personal and Financial Information
Congresswoman Lowey is fighting for many consumer protections against abusive credit card practices. In 2007 she introduced the Credit Protection Act, which would prohibit the deceptive and unfair practice of universal default, in which a creditor can increase your interest rate even if you make all of your payments on time. The bill would also require each monthly statement to clearly list the percentage of the balance the minimum payment represents and the number of months and total cost to pay off the balance if only the minimum payment is made. Credit card companies should make it easy for consumers to know the true cost of making minimum payments.
Congresswoman Lowey believes that personal information should be protected. She has supported measures that help defend our privacy when opening bank accounts, signing up for phone service, obtaining a driver's license, or going to the doctor. She has also voted for legislation to provide consumers with free and easier access to their credit reports as well as establish new fraud identification tools. In addition, Lowey has cosponsored legislation to combat identify theft, an increasingly frequent crime that affected nearly 40,000 New Yorkers in 2005. Consumers have the right to know their identities are secure and should be notified if their information has been improperly accessed.
In an effort to provide consumers with the tools they need to fight identity theft and to ensure the accuracy of their credit reports, Congresswoman Lowey voted in favor of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. The legislation would give individuals the right to one free credit report each year as well as easier access to their credit reports. The bill would also establish new fraud identification tools and help consumers limit prescreened offers of credit and insurance.
If you think you are a victim of identity theft, or for more information on the topic, please visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft/. If you believe that someone else is using your Social Security number, call the Social Security Fraud Hotline at (800) 269-0271.