THESE BILLS STARTED IN STEARNS' COMMERCE, TRADE & CONSUMER PROTECTION SUBCOMMITTEE

Washington, Oct 9, 2007 -

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala), the Ranking Member of the Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection Subcommittee, helped get these bills to the House floor by supporting them during committee consideration.  "Every day consumer products, such as toys, appliances, and sporting equipment, are involved in more than 25,000 deaths and 33.3 million injuries each year," stated Stearns.  "The Consumer Product Safety Commissions is charged with overseeing the safety of 15,000 consumer products, and I am committed to providing the Commission the tools it needs to protect the public."

The House today approved four bills related to consumer safety. Stated Stearns, "I believe in holding manufacturers accountable for serious mistakes and intentional violations, but we must be careful to not add a new layer of ineffective regulations that burden our industries and drive American jobs overseas.  These bills meet these criteria."

The House approved the following four bills dealing with consumer safety:

H.R. 814, the Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act, requires the same child-resistant caps for all gasoline containers, whether sold with gasoline or not.

H.R. 1699, the Danny Kaysar Product Safety Notification Act, requires manufacturers of 12 nursery products (cribs, high chairs, etc.) to provide postage-paid, privacy-protected postcards to allow consumers to register their products by mail.

H.R. 2474, the Product Safety Civil Penalties Improvement Act, would increase the cap on civil penalties for knowing product safety violations from the current level of $1.83 million to $10 million.

H.R. 1721, The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Space Safety Act, requires that all drains sold for swimming pools and spas must conform to a specified anti-entrapment standard.  Provides grants to states to strengthen safety standards.