Providing Greater Authority and Discretion to Consumer Product Safety Commission

Floor Speech

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Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this bi-partisan legislation that will help protect consumers against dangerous products that may do them harm. This legislation affects a broad spectrum of our economy, from the manufacturers of toys to the children that play with them. I am truly delighted that Democrats and Republicans were able to come together to support a plan to increase the safety of all children's products manufactured in this country. I am also pleased that this bipartisan agreement addresses some of the unintended consequences of the original legislation without sacrificing the safety requirements that I believe are necessary to protect our children.

Our committee has had several months of consultation with industry officials to alleviate the burden placed on them by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act's (CPSIA) new standards and regulations. These common sense reforms such as allowing flexibility for the CPSC to exempt specific products and exclude certain used children's products were supported by many of the stakeholders that will be affected by the legislation we are considering today.

I again want to commend Chairman Bono Mack and Ranking Member Butterfield for coming together and bringing this improved legislation to the floor. I encourage my colleagues to vote yes on this legislation, I also urge my colleagues to continue to work together in the spirit of bi-partisanship to protect the standards of safety that our constituents demand of us.

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