THE HOUSE : To Extend Consumer Agency

By a vote of 375 to 41, the House sent to the White House a bill to keep the Consumer Product Safety Commission alive with budgets of $42 million in fiscal 1991 and $45 million in 1992. President Bush was expected to sign the measure (S605).

The agency has been slowed in its mission by battles between consumer and business interests over how far it should go to keep hazardous products off the market. This bill makes it easier for it to obtain a quorum to conduct business. Among other provisions, it requires manufacturers to inform the panel if they lose a threshold number of lawsuits over their products, and mandates safety standards for a few risky products, including garage door openers and cigarette lighters that are easily ignited by children.

Supporter Doug Walgren (D-Pa.) said the bill has strong backing from consumer groups and the agency itself.

Opponent Howard C. Nielson (R-Utah) said, “The bill outrageously mismanages, micro-manages, this agency.”

A yes vote was to reauthorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission. How They Voted

Rep. Moorhead (R): Yea

Rep. Roybal (D): Yea

Rep. Waxman (D): Yea

Immigration Reform By a vote of 264 to 118, the House gave final congressional approval of a bill (S358) reforming the process of legal immigration to the United States. President Bush was expected to sign the bill, under which the current limit of 500,000 immigrants annually will be raised to 700,000 between 1992 and 1994, then drop permanently to 650,000. The majority of the new visas will go to people with needed job and professional skills or who come from European and African countries that have had low quotas in recent decades. One innovation is a set-aside of 10,000 visas each year for investors of at least $1 million in new, job-creating businesses in America.

The bill eases restrictions based on ideology and sexual preference, gives the Department of Health and Human Services power to admit immigrants who may be infected with AIDS, and is more protective than current law of political refugees from El Salvador and elsewhere in Latin America.

A yes vote was to pass the immigration reform bill. How They Voted

Rep. Moorhead (R): Nay

Rep. Roybal (D): Yea

Rep. Waxman (D): Yea

Clean Air By a vote of 401 to 25, the House gave its final approval of a bill (S1630) accelerating federal efforts to make the air healthier to breathe, protect the Earth’s ozone layer against further depletion and curb the damage acid rain inflicts on lakes and forests.

President Bush was set to sign the first upgrade of the Clean Air Act in 13 years. Supported by much of the business community and environmentalists, the 750-page measure relies on economic incentives and tough civil and criminal penalties to achieve its goals. The bill curbs toxic emissions from motor vehicles, power plants, factories, dry cleaners and all other significant contributors to air pollution. It seeks to cut acid rain by curbing high-sulfur coal emissions from Midwestern power plants, mandates cleaner gasolines and tighter exhaust controls on motor vehicles, and requires the more than 100 cities with the dirtiest air to lower pollution to acceptable levels over the next five to 20 years.

A yes vote supported the bill. How They Voted

Rep. Moorhead (R): Yea

Rep. Roybal (D): Yea

Rep. Waxman (D): Yea