Title: A resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
This resolution recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 855 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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 product hazards, imminently 
hazardous consumer products, 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

    (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--

    G    (A) 96 children died due to being trapped and suffocating in 
refrigerators between 1973 and 1984; and

    G    (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--

    G    (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

    G    (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--

    G    (A) the bicycle safety standards developed by the Commission 
became effective in 1975; and

    G    (B) between 1973 and 2020, bicycle injuries in the United States 
declined 35 percent; and

    (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
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the 
        Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.), which 
        created the Consumer Product Safety Commission (referred to in 
        this resolution as the ``Commission'');
            (2) expresses appreciation for the actions of the 
        Commission taken to protect the people of the United States 
        from dangerous consumer products;
            (3) acknowledges that while the Commission has made great 
        strides in consumer product safety, the risk of injury or death 
        from consumer products, both new and old, remains; and
            (4) commits to working with the Commission in furtherance 
        of making consumer products as safe as possible.
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