{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/congress-passes-reeds-sunscreen-innovation-act", "Congress Passes Reed’s Sunscreen Innovation Act", "2014-11-13", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11/13/2014\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) scored another key victory for consumers today when the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Reed-authored Sunscreen Innovation Act (S. 2141) by unanimous consent.\u00a0 Reed\u2019s bill, the result of a years-long campaign for stronger sunscreen standards and labeling, is designed to address a regulatory backlog that is preventing U.S. consumers from having access to advanced, effective sunscreens that are widely available in the rest of the world.\u00a0 The U.S. Senate passed the bill in September, and the measure now heads to President Obama\u2019s desk where it is expected to become law.\r\nThe Sunscreen Innovation Act will help the U.S. catch up to other countries in sunscreen technology by expediting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u2019s (FDA) review process for active ingredients in sunscreens that have long been approved for use in places like Europe and Canada.\u00a0 Some of these sunscreen ingredients have been safely used overseas for years, but have had their applications pending before the FDA for over a decade.\u00a0 The Sunscreen Innovation Act also seeks to shed some light on the FDA\u2019s review process by requiring the agency to periodically report to Congress on the progress of this effort.\r\n\u201cPassage of this bill is good for American consumers and public health, and it\u2019s an example of the type of bipartisan achievements that are possible when both sides come together.\u00a0 The Sunscreen Innovation Act will help ensure U.S. consumers have access to the safest, most effective sunscreens available.\u00a0 While the FDA must do its due diligence to ensure the safety of these products, they should do it in a timely manner.\u00a0 Americans shouldn\u2019t have to wait decades for access to the most advanced, effective sunscreens as they try to better protect themselves from skin cancer.\u00a0 We want Americans to follow safe sun practices and benefit from the latest advances in sun care products and research,\u201d said Reed (D-RI), who originally introduced the legislation back in March.\r\nReed\u2019s bill was backed by a bipartisan coalition of 19 U.S. Senators, including his lead cosponsor, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), who is a melanoma survivor.\u00a0 Other key cosponsors included Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN).\u00a0 Other cosponsors included:\u00a0 Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Burr (R-NC), Thomas R. Carper (D-DE), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rand Paul (R-KY),\u00a0 Rob Portman (R-OH), Pat Robert (R-KS), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).\r\nIn the House, Reed worked on the bill with Congressmen Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and John D. Dingell (D-MI).\u00a0 The legislation also received strong backing from leading skin cancer groups and environmental advocates.\r\nSkin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, with more than 2 million cases diagnosed every year. \u00a0A report from the Surgeon General released this summer stated that nearly 5 million people in the United States are treated for skin cancers every year, with an annual cost estimated at $8.1 billion.\u00a0 Many of these cases could be prevented by protecting skin from sun exposure, according to the American Cancer Society.\r\nReed has long been a champion of efforts to help Americans better protect themselves from skin cancer.\u00a0 He led the successful fight to strengthen the FDA\u2019s labeling and testing standards for sunscreen products and has also fought for better consumer disclosures on indoor tanning devices.\r\nTo spur the FDA to enact stronger sunscreen standards and oversight, Reed wrote the proposed Sunscreen Labeling Protection (SUN) Act.\u00a0 After years of delay, the FDA finally implemented new rules requiring sunscreen manufacturers to be clearer about how much protection their products really offer.\u00a0 The products must state whether they protect against both sunburn-causing ultraviolet B rays and the deeper-penetrating ultraviolet A linked to skin cancer and premature aging.\u00a0 They may no longer make misleading claims about being \u201cwaterproof\u201d or \u201csweatproof.\u201d\r\nReed also authored the Tanning Accountability and Notification (TAN) Act, which was signed into law in 2007, directing the FDA to review the warning labels on indoor tanning beds and approve a safe and effective national standard to educate consumers about the risks of prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light.\u00a0 Earlier this year, the FDA announced plans to reclassify sunlamp products and ultraviolet (UV) lamps intended for use in sunlamp products and tanning beds as Class II medical devices.\u00a0 Reclassifying these ultraviolet tanning devices as moderate risk devices (Class II) will require them to bear warning labels about the risk of cancer, alerting people to the dangers associated with their use.\u00a0 The manufacturers of these sunlamp products will now include a visible black-box warning on the device that explicitly states that the sunlamp product should not be used on persons under the age of 18 years.\u00a0 In addition, certain marketing materials for sunlamp products and UV lamps must include specific warning statements.\r\nEarlier this year Reed teamed up with the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Rhode Island Hospital for the \u201cSun Smarts\u201d campaign, which offered free skin cancer screenings at local beaches around the state.\u00a0 The goal of the free screenings was to raise awareness about skin cancer and help catch cases of skin cancer in their earliest, most treatable stages and educate the public about effective sun protection.\r\nNow that it is has been passed by the full U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, the bill will be sent to President Obama to be signed into law.\r\n-end-\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/congress-passes-reeds-sunscreen-innovation-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8796830661594868, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}