I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4451 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for the protection of 
the general public, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 10, 2014 
Mr. CONYERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for the 
protection of the general public, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dangerous Products 
Warning Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DANGEROUS PRODUCTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part 1 of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 27 the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘CHAPTER 28—DANGEROUS PRODUCTS 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘571. Violations. 
‘‘572. Relationship to existing law. 
‘‘573. Construction. 
‘‘574. Definitions for chapter. 
‘‘§ 571. Violations 
‘‘(a) FAILURE TO INFORM AND WARN.—Whoever— 
‘‘(1) is a business entity or a product supervisor 
with respect to a product or business practice; 
‘‘(2) knows of a serious danger associated with 
such product (or a component of that product) or 
business practice; and 
‘‘(3) knowingly fails within 15 days after such 
discovery is made (or if there is imminent risk of se-
rious bodily injury or death, immediately) to do any 
of the following: 
‘‘(A) To inform an appropriate Federal 
agency in writing, unless such product super-
visor has actual knowledge that such an agency 
has been so informed. 
‘‘(B) To warn affected employees in writ-
ing, unless such product supervisor has actual 
knowledge that such employees have been so 
warned. 
‘‘(C) To inform persons other than af-
fected employees at risk if they can reasonably 
be identified. 
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shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 
5 years, or both. 
‘‘(b) RETALIATION.—Whoever knowingly discrimi-
nates against any person in the terms or conditions of em-
ployment or in retention in employment or in hiring be-
cause of such person having informed a Federal agency 
or warned employees of a serious danger associated with 
a product or business practice shall be fined under this 
title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. 
‘‘(c) NONPAYMENT BY BUSINESS ENTITIES.—If a 
fine is imposed on an individual under this section, such 
fine shall not be paid, directly or indirectly, out of the as-
sets of any business entity on behalf of that individual. 
‘‘§ 572. Relationship to existing law 
‘‘(a) RIGHTS TO INTERVENE.—Nothing in this chap-
ter shall be construed to limit the right of any individual 
or group of individuals to initiate, intervene in, or other-
wise participate in any proceeding before a regulatory 
agency or court, nor to relieve any regulatory agency, 
court, or other public body of any obligation, or affect its 
discretion to permit intervention or participation by an in-
dividual or group or class of consumers, employees or citi-
zens in any proceeding or activity. 
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‘‘(b) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this chapter preempts 
any State law or otherwise affects any State authority to 
adopt or enforce any State law. 
‘‘§ 573. Construction 
‘‘This chapter shall be construed in such a manner 
as best to represent and protect the interests of the public. 
‘‘§ 574. Definitions for chapter 
‘‘In this chapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘product supervisor’— 
‘‘(A) means— 
‘‘(i) an officer or director of a cor-
poration or an association; 
‘‘(ii) a partner of a partnership; or 
‘‘(iii) any employee or other agent of 
a corporation, association, or partnership 
having duties such that the conduct of 
such employee or agent may fairly be as-
sumed to represent the policy of the cor-
poration, association, or partnership; and 
‘‘(B) includes persons having management 
responsibility for— 
‘‘(i) submissions to a Federal agency 
regarding the development or approval of 
any product; 
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‘‘(ii) production, quality assurance, or 
quality control of any product; or 
‘‘(iii) research and development of any 
product; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘product’ means a product or 
service of a business entity that enters or will enter 
interstate commerce; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘business entity’ means any cor-
poration, company, association, firm, partnership, or 
other business entity or a sole proprietor; 
‘‘(4) the term ‘business practice’ means a meth-
od or practice of manufacturing, assembling, design-
ing, researching, importing or distributing a product 
that enters or will enter interstate commerce, con-
ducting, providing or preparing to provide a service 
that enters or will enter interstate commerce, or oth-
erwise carrying out business operations related to 
products or services that enter or will enter inter-
state commerce; 
‘‘(5) the term ‘serious danger’, used with re-
spect to a product or business practice, means a 
danger, not readily apparent to the average person, 
that the normal or reasonably foreseeable use of, or 
the exposure of a human being to, that product or 
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business practice may cause death or serious bodily 
injury to a human being; 
‘‘(6) the term ‘serious bodily injury’ means an 
impairment of physical condition, including as result 
of trauma, repetitive motion or disease, that— 
‘‘(A) creates a substantial risk of death; or 
‘‘(B) causes— 
‘‘(i) serious permanent disfigurement; 
‘‘(ii) unconsciousness; 
‘‘(iii) extreme pain; or 
‘‘(iv) permanent or protracted loss or 
impairment of the function of any bodily 
member, organ, bodily system, or mental 
faculty; 
‘‘(7) the term ‘appropriate Federal agency’ 
means any agency with jurisdiction over the product 
or business practice; and 
‘‘(8) the term ‘warn affected employees’, used 
with respect to a serious danger, means take reason-
able steps to give sufficient description of the serious 
danger to all individuals working for or in the busi-
ness entity who are likely to be subject to the serious 
danger in the course of that work to make those in-
dividuals aware of that danger.’’. 
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 
for title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting, 
after the item relating to chapter 27, the following: 
‘‘28. Dangerous products ................................................................
571’’. 
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act take effect 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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