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U.S.
Senator Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees |
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For Immediate
Release Thursday , March 6, 2008 |
CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-494-8790 |
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| Sen. Salazar Lauds Senate Passage of Consumer Product Safety Bill that Protects Children from Toxic Toys WASHINGTON, DC – With approximately 27,000 deaths and 33 million injuries occurring each year as a result of hazardous and defective products, there are serious weaknesses in the U.S. product safety system. Despite these dangers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) remains grossly understaffed, underfunded and overlooked by the Bush Administration. To address the issue, the United States Senate today passed the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, which corrects these shortfalls and supports the CSPC by providing the resources, authority and oversight it needs to protect American children from toxic toys and other unsafe products. United States Senator Ken Salazar made the following statement upon the bill’s passage. “In the last few months, there have been hundreds of cases of unsafe chemicals in toothpaste, contaminated dog food, and toxic toys tainted with lead that have made their way into the hands of our children and adult consumers. Today, the Senate voted to help make products safer for children and consumers across America. “In the bill we passed today, we took a major step to ban lead from all children’s products. We also worked to hold companies accountable for breaking product safety laws and penalize those who knowingly sell recalled products that put consumers at risk. “As Colorado’s former Attorney General, I know how attorneys general are the defenders of the public interest and are best positioned to make sure that consumers are protected. We included an important provision in the bill that grants state attorneys general the ability to bring a civil action on behalf of residents to obtain injunctive relief against entities that they believe have violated consumer product safety. “All in all, this bill is a great display of how Democrats and Republicans can come together to protect American consumers and children who are at risk from hazardous products. I will continue to work to get this important bill to the President’s desk and enacted into law.” The Senate bill passed today
bans the direct use of lead in all children’s products, from lunch boxes
to toys, and requires third party safety certification on children’s
products that enter the United States. It also provides whistleblower
protection for employees of manufacturers and importers to shed light
on any problems along the supply chain and also makes it unlawful for
retailers to sell a recalled product. The Senate bill increases the
civil penalties to five years in jail for those who knowingly and willingly
violate product safety laws and increases the civil penalty cap up to
$20 million from the current level of $1.8 million for aggravated circumstances.
The Senate bill also includes a provision that allows state Attorneys
General to obtain injunctive relief on behalf of their residents to
enforce product safety laws.
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