Rep. Ritchie Torres talks lithium-ion battery safety legislation

We've got a rather unique story out of Capitol Hill, because chances are if you live in a major city, New York, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, you've seen a growing number of people riding around on E bikes, scooters, etcetera. It's a huge industry. E bike sales expected to top $54 billion in the next three years. They're faster, fun to ride. We get it. But what if we told you these bikes also could pose a major risk, Not just being hit by 1, by the way, but from fires? According to the New York Fire Department, more than 400 fires have started, ostensibly because the batteries have overheated or defective. And then they catch fire. And now Congress is taking action, the House of Representatives passing the Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium Ion Batteries Act, which aims to improve safety standards. The bill will now head to the Senate. Joining us now is New York Congressman Richie Torres, the author of the legislation. Congressman Torres, thanks for joining us. You know, it's for our viewers that don't get it. OK, in New York City, where I was walking around, yesterday's bikes are everywhere. It's the same reason why when you board a plane, they ask you, do you have any big lithium ion batteries? Because they can be dangerous. What are you doing to try to fix that? Well, I completely agree. Lithium ion batteries. Poorly manufactured lithium ion batteries are ticking time bombs waiting to detonate in American homes and communities. These lithium ion batteries have become one of the fastest growing causes of fires in the United States, and nowhere more so than in New York City, which saw a 900% surge in the number of lithium ion battery fires. And so the fire hazard has become too glaring to ignore. And so I passed legislation in the House that would empower the Consumer Product Safety Commission to set mandatory safety standards for the manufacturing of lithium ion batteries and the immobility devices that contain them. And I'm hopeful that that's going to have a real impact in improving fire safety in places like New York City. But I'm guessing, Congressman, that that a majority of these batteries, just like in cars, they come from China. How do we control the quality of batteries coming from factories that we have no control over? Look, you're exactly right. Just like this Chinese Communist Party is endangering American minds with TikTok, the Chinese Communist Party is endangering American bodies with defective lithium ion batteries as well as fentanyl precursors. So the legislation that I passed would make it illegal for brick and mortar businesses and digital platforms to sell defective lithium ion batteries from China. You know, these batteries would be required to have AUL certification, to have a certification of Product Safety. Yeah, the certification would be one thing. We know that in the Inflation reduction Act, there is money to help build out American battery manufacturing. I would assume that if we can just get more of these batteries built here that we would and probably be a little more expensive. I get it. But we then would have control over the quality. Because to your point, I mean, these batteries, you know, they're big enough a phone can cause a little bit of problem. But these batteries are big enough that the fire department is saying when they go up, they could torch the entire apartment building. Yeah, I mean, that's exactly right. I mean, these are ticking time bars. A poorly handled, poorly manufactured lithium ion battery can not only cause a fire, it can cause an instantaneous explosion. You know, here in the Bronx, I saw one of our few neighborhood supermarkets reduced to rubble by A5 alarm fire caused by a lithium ion battery. You know, the fundamental difference between the United States and China is that we have standards of product quality and Product Safety, and the stakes are a matter of life and death.