III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 855 

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 1, 2022 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Consumer Product 

Safety Commission. 

Whereas, on October 27, 1972, Congress passed, and President Richard Milhous Nixon signed into law, the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.), 

which established the Consumer Product Safety Commission (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Commission’’) 

to protect consumers from unsafe products; 

Whereas, for 50 years, the Commission has acted to fulfill 

the purposes of the Consumer Product Safety Act, which 

include— 

(1) protecting the public against unreasonable risks 

of injury associated with consumer products, substantial 

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•SRES 855 IS 

ucts, and products in violation of consumer product safety rules; 

(2) assisting consumers in evaluating the comparative safety of consumer products; 

(3) developing uniform safety standards for consumer products and minimizing conflicting State and 

local regulations; and 

(4) promoting research and investigation into the 

causes and prevention of product-related deaths, illnesses, 

and injuries; 

Whereas, in addition to the responsibilities of the Commission 

under the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Commission 

enforces numerous other statutes, including— 

(1) the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 

U.S.C. 1261 et seq.); 

(2) the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1191 et 

seq.); 

(3) the Refrigerator Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1211– 

1214); 

(4) the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 

(15 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.); and 

(5) the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety 

Act (15 U.S.C. 8001 et seq.); 

Whereas millions of serious and fatal injuries have been prevented, saving the lives of consumers, thanks to the work 

of the Commission— 

(1) developing safety standards; 

(2) working with voluntary standards organizations 

to bring industry groups, manufacturers, and consumer 

groups together to establish voluntary standards; 

(3) removing unreasonably dangerous products from 

the marketplace; and 


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(4) holding companies accountable when they fail to 

meet consumer product protection standards and laws; 

Whereas the many successes of the Commission in protecting 

consumers of the United States include— 

(1) with respect to refrigerators, that— 

(A) 96 children died due to being trapped and 

suffocating in refrigerators between 1973 and 1984; 

and 

(B) only 2 children reportedly died under similar circumstances in the 25 years preceding the date 

of adoption of this resolution; 

(2) with respect to garage doors, that— 

(A) after the deaths of 46 children involving garage doors during the period of 1982 to 1990, in 

1992 the Commission introduced a safety standard; 

and 

(B) there have been only 2 child deaths involving garage doors in the decade preceding the date of 

adoption of this resolution; 

(3) with respect to fires, that between 1980 and 

2018 there was a 43-percent decrease in residential fires, 

a 47-percent decrease in fire deaths, and a 41-percent decrease in fire injuries; 

(4) with respect to child poisonings, that between 

1972 and 2020 there was an 80-percent decline in pediatric poisonings for children under the age of 5; 

(5) with respect to bicycles, that— 

(A) the bicycle safety standards developed by 

the Commission became effective in 1975; and 

(B) between 1973 and 2020, bicycle injuries in 

the United States declined 35 percent; and 


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(6) with respect to pools, that between 1975 and 

2019, injuries associated with in-ground swimming pools 

and equipment declined 55 percent; and 

Whereas the Commission works to meet the ongoing challenges of consumer product safety: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the adop3 tion of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 2051 et seq.), which created the Consumer Product 

5 Safety Commission (referred to in this resolution as 

6 the ‘‘Commission’’); 

7 (2) expresses appreciation for the actions of the 

8 Commission taken to protect the people of the 

9 United States from dangerous consumer products; 

10 (3) acknowledges that while the Commission 

11 has made great strides in consumer product safety, 

12 the risk of injury or death from consumer products, 

13 both new and old, remains; and 

14 (4) commits to working with the Commission in 

15 furtherance of making consumer products as safe as 

16 possible. 

Æ 


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