Editorial: Stop messing with auto safety reforms

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2000 | 9:56 a.m.

In the wake of the Firestone tire recall, both the House and Senate have passed legislation that would toughen highway safety enforcement. But Sen. John McCain, who drafted the bill that imposes harsher penalties on the makers of defective auto products, is angry that the legislation is being blocked in the Senate. "The fix is in" by the special interests, McCain declared last week.

Word has gotten back to McCain that a few fellow Republicans, who are auto industry allies, are anonymously placing holds on the legislation. They apparently object to the criminal sanctions in McCain's legislation. But the senators should move out from the shadows, and do as McCain has asked: Openly air their differences with him and agree to take an up-or-down vote. It's time to stop playing games with such important consumer-protection legislation.

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