Consumer Product Safety Reform Act passes Senate

Strong support for this legislation:

The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved Sen. Mark Pryor's legislation that would make major changes to consumer product safety law. The Senate approved the bill, called the "Consumer Product Safety Reform Act," by a 79-13 vote after four days of debate.

"It provides new safety safeguards that emphasize resources, accountability, disclosure and testing _ from the factory floor to the store shelves," said Pryor, D-Ark.

The bill calls for a public database of consumer complaints, bolsters the Consumer Products Safety Commission to help it certify the safety of overseas products, bans lead in children's goods and sets new standards for safe toys. The Bush administration and other critics said the database unfairly could taint manufacturers. But President Bush has not threatened a veto.

The House's version has many differences, including a lower cap for jury awards.