Consumer Safety Technology Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation with Representative McNerney, H.R. 3723, the Consumer Safety Technology Act.

You know, over my time in the Energy and Commerce Committee, I have made several trips out to the CPSC and observed firsthand how the men and women dedicate their lives to ensuring that consumers have safe products, that consumers have products that are not going to cause harm to the user.

And as we approach the anniversary of our Nation's independence on July 4, I also have a lot of respect for these same individuals who ensure that our fireworks that are sold at the commercial stands at the side of the road also meet certain specifications.

So as we approach Independence Day, it is always a good time to acknowledge the work done by the men and women in the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The bill we are talking about today actually passed the last Congress by a voice vote, but it did fail to advance in the United States Senate. It includes the bill that Mr. McNerney and I introduced, the Artificial Intelligence for Consumer Product Safety legislation, along with, as referenced, the Blockchain Innovation Act and the Digital Taxonomy Act.

We are once again considering this bill because this is commonsense legislation that should be signed into law to improve and modernize our consumer protection agencies.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has jurisdiction over 15,000 consumer products. Many of these are purchased online without the consumer reviewing or assessing the product in person. Throughout the time of the pandemic, Americans have sought to fulfill their needs through online shopping, and many companies and small businesses have innovated products to further increase convenience of daily life. The pool of products available to consumers is continually expanding, putting further strain on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ensure the safety of those products.

While technological advances are increasing the number of types of products available for consumption, the Consumer Product Safety Commission can employ advanced technology to assist in that mission.

This bill directs the Consumer Safety Product Commission to establish a pilot program to use artificial intelligence for tracking injury trends, identifying consumer product hazards, monitoring the retail marketplace for the sale of recalled products, or identifying unsafe imported consumer products.

It is safe to say that when the Consumer Product Safety Commission was created, no one anticipated the sheer volume of material that would be being imported, for which they now have responsibility.

Artifical intelligence uses algorithms to quickly automate human functions and to filter and analyze data. Artificial intelligence is already advancing capabilities in multiple sectors to better serve consumers by increasing capacity and enhancing outcomes. As artificial intelligence advances, it should be capable of helping predict fail rates and identifying problems in consumer products before they can significantly impact the market.

If we want the United States to stay ahead of China and other global competitors, we must advance and utilize artificial intelligence in all appropriate products and processes. I can think of no better place to implement these capabilities than in the protection of products used every single day by American consumers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge colleagues to support this bill. Again, it passed the last Congress in a voice vote. We should advance it today.

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