The House passed four measures by voice vote Tuesday that were designed to protect children from hazardous consumer products.

The bills came out of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has made product safety a priority this year after lead-tainted toys from China were found on U.S. shelves.

A bill (HR 1699) named for 17-month-old Danny Keysar, who died in 1998 when his crib collapsed, would require makers of cribs, high chairs, strollers and similar products to maintain a purchaser’s contact information to use in providing notice of product recalls.

The accident that killed Keysar occurred five years after his crib model had been recalled, but news of the recall had not reached his parents or caregivers.

“Congress needs to act to make sure that these kinds of senseless tragedies don’t occur again,” said Democrat Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, the measure’s sponsor.

The legislation would require manufacturers to provide buyers with pre-paid postcards that parents could mail in to be notified of any recalls. It would also require recalls to be posted online.

“Numerous press reports have recently cited just how ineffective product recalls can be,” said Democrat Bobby L. Rush of Illinois, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

“Unfortunately, parents are often unaware of defective product recalls and they remain in homes,” he added.

Rush said the legislation is modeled on the procedure that has been used effectively for recalls of children’s car seats.

The package also included measures that would mandate safety standards for swimming pool drains (HR 1721) and set standards for safer gasoline container caps (HR 814). Currently, there are voluntary industry standards for these products.

The House also passed legislation (HR 2474) that would boost the maximum penalty for violating the Consumer Product Safety Act to $10 million, starting with a temporary increase to $5 million, from the current $1.25 million.

The Energy and Commerce Committee approved all four bills by voice vote Sept. 27. The House passed all four bills Tuesday under suspension of the rules, a procedure that limits debate, bars amendments and requires a two-thirds majority for passage.

First posted Oct. 9, 2007 8:37 p.m.