U.S. PIRG called on Congress to pass the strongest possible product safety reforms under consideration:

-Ban lead except at trace amounts. The PIRG-backed HR 3691, the SAFE Consumer Product Act, sponsored by Rep. DeLauro (Conn.)and 153 co-sponsors, would reduce all lead levels – in paint or in the product -- to 40 parts per million -- the level recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

-Increase the budget and staffing of CPSC. CPSC has only one toy tester and a tiny force of 15 inspectors to check millions of toys at hundreds of ports of entry.

-Require companies to guarantee that their products have been subject to independent third party testing before they put them on toy store shelves.

"It doesn't matter whether a toy is made in China or made in Kansas," said Mierzwinski. "Companies have to make sure that it is safe."

Mierzwinski noted that two other bills, the CSPC Reform Act, S 2045 (Pryor-AR), which is ready for Senate floor action, and the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, HR 4040 (Rush-IL, Stearns-FL, Dingell-MI, Barton-TX), which is awaiting full Energy and Commerce committee action after Thanksgiving, are "good steps that include many of our proposed reforms, but should be improved in several areas."