92D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 983 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 25 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 17), 1971 Mr. MAGNUSON (for himself and Mr. Moss) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce A BILL To protect consumers against unreasonable risk of injury from hazardous products and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That this Act may be cited as the "Consumer Product Safety 4 Act of 1971." 5 6 7 8 9 10 FINDINGS AND PURPOSES SEC. 2. (a) The Congress hereby finds-- (1) the public has a right to be protected against risk of death or injury from hazardous consumer prod ucts when such hazards can reasonably be eliminated or minimized; 2 (2) unacceptable numbers of hazardous consumer products now affect interstate commerce; (3) the increasing number and complexity of consumer products make it essential to act promptly to avoid unnecessary death and injury in the future; (4) complexities of modern consumer products and the diverse nature and abilities of consumers using them frequently result in an inability of users to anticipate hazards and to safeguard themselves adequately; (5) voluntary efforts by industry to develop means of preventing the sale of unsafe products, while sometimes contributing to consumer safety, often have not been adequate to protect consumers; (6) preservation of free competition precludes enforcement of voluntary product safety standards by private groups; and (7) the production and sale of consumer products generally affect interstate commerce, making control of unreasonable hazards by State and local governments inadequate and often burdensome to manufacturers. (b) The purposes of this Act are (1) to protect the public against unreasonable prod uct hazards to their health and safety; (2) to assist consumers in evaluating the compara tive safety of consumer products; 1 2 3 3 (3) to aid manufacturers of consumer products by encouraging industry to develop uniform safety standards for consumer products and by minimizing conflicting State and local regulations; and (4) to promote research and investigation into the causes and prevention of product-related deaths and 4 5 6 7 injuries. 8 CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION 9 SEC. 3. (a) A Commission is hereby created and estab10 lished, to be known as the Consumer Product Safety Com11 mission (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission"), con12 sisting of five Commissioners who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 14 15 one of whom shall be designated by the President as Chairman. The Chairman shall be the principal executive officer 16 of the Commission and, when so designated, shall act as 17 Chairman until the expiration of his term of office. Any 18 member of the Commission may be removed by the President 19 for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other 21 (b) The Commissioners first appointed under this sec22 tion shall continue in office for terms of one, two, three, four, 23 and five years, respectively, from the date of the enactment of 24 this Act, the term of each to be designated by the President at the time of nomination. Their successors shall be appointed 25 4 1 each for a term of five years from the date of the expiration 2 of the term for which his predecessor was appointed and until 3 his successor is appointed and has qualified, except that he 4 shall not so continue to serve beyond the expiration of the 5 next session of Congress subsequent to the expiration of said 6 fixed term of office and except that any person appointed 7 to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term 8 for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed 9 only for the unexpired term. 10 (c) Not more than three of the Commissioners shall be 11 appointed from the same political party. No person in the em12 ploy of, or holding any official relation to, any person, firm, 13 association, or corporation engaged in selling or manufactur14 ing consumer products or owning stock or bonds of substan15 tial value in such a firm, association, or corporation or who 16 is in any other manner pecuniarily interested in such a firm, 17 association, or corporation, or a substantial supplier thereof, 18 shall enter upon the duties of or hold the office of Commis19 sioner. Commissioners shall not engage in any other business, 20 vocation, or employment. 21 (d) No vacancy in the Commission shall impair the 22 right of the remaining Commissioners to exercise all the 23 powers of the Commission. Three members of the Commis24 sion shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 25 The Commission shall have an official seal of which judicial 5 1 notice shall be taken. The Commission shall annually elect 2 a Vice Chairman to act in the absence or in case of the dis3 ability of the Chairman or in case of a vacancy in the office 4 of the Chairman. 5 (e) The Commission shall maintain a principal office 6 and such field offices as it deems necessary and may meet and 7 exercise any or all of its powers at any other place. The 8 Commission may, by one or more of its members or by such 9 agents or agency as it may designate, prosecute any inquiry 10 necessary to its function anywhere in the United States. A Commissioner who participates in such an inquiry shall not 12 be disqualified from subsequently participating in a decision of the Commission in the same matter. 11 13 14 (f) The Commission shall prepare and submit to the 15 President for transmittal to the Congress on or before October 16 1 of each year a comprehensive report on the administration 17 of this Act for the preceding fiscal year. Such report shall 18 include (1) a thorough appraisal, including statistical analyses, estimates, and long-term projections, of the incidence of injury and effects to the population resulting from consumer products, with a breakdown, insofar as practicable, among the various sources of such injury; (2) a list of consumer product safety standards in |