Today the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held  markup to consider two bills, H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, and H.R. 1216, the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act of 2007.

Congressman Michael Burgess, (R-Texas) offered two amendments to H.R. 4040:

• the first amendment, which was subsequently withdrawn but will be offered at the full committee markup, would enhance the authority of the Commission to refuse admission of contaminated imported consumer products; and
• the second amendment, which has bi-partisan support within the subcommittee, will bring forth increased awareness and education to retailers of second-hand products about consumer product recalls. This amendment is co-sponsored by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois), and its acceptance is expected.

The following statement may be attributed to Congressman Burgess:

“I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 4040, The Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, and I would like to commend the leadership of this committee for the true bipartisan undertaking. I am honored to be a member of this subcommittee, which works hard to take measures to keep families safe from unreasonable dangers imposed by consumer products.

“I believe in the true spirit of my first amendment, which would allow us to take control of the consumer products that are being sent to America. However, I do realize that authority would be new, and would require much consultation. Therefore, I withdraw my amendment with the understanding that I will continue to work with the committee and re-offer the amendment at the full committee markup.

“Along with Ms. Schakowsky, I would like to offer an amendment that will bring forth increased awareness and education to retailers of second-hand products about consumer product recalls. We both believe we must improve the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s ability to notify consumers and sellers about dangerous products more quickly and on a broader scope.”

Of note: On October 25, 2007, Congressman Burgess introduced H.R. 3967, The Imported Food Safety Improvement Act of 2007. This legislation would allow the FDA to embargo a specific food from a specific country if there were repeated instances of that food being found contaminated when it arrived in the United States. H.R. 3967 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

“I firmly believe that the FDA needs the ability and explicit authority to immediately stop dangerous foods from coming into this country. This bill would give the FDA the tools to do just that. I think of it like this: goods are coming into this country on a conveyor belt, and when we find a bad apple on that belt, the FDA needs to be able to push a big red button and immediately stop the apple from continuing into the line of commerce.”

Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D., is a Republican who was a doctor for 25 years in North Texas before coming to Washington, DC to represent the 26th District of Texas. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and four subcommittees of that committee: Oversight and Investigations, Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, Health, and Energy and Air Quality. He is also the Vice Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.