WASHINGTON -- Last year the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced 473 product recalls, which included 25 million toys. And this year is expected to again break records, according to the Consumers Union.

Congress is close to approving legislation that would boost funding and authority to the CPSC, to better mandate and enforce product safety standards. The CPSC has been under funded, said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Jr. (D-8th). "They’ve fallen down on the job. The legislation Congress is working on is intended to put more teeth into that agency and provide them the funding they need to do the job."

Product safety advocates and concerned moms and dads met on Capitol Hill Thursday to urge Congress to pass a strong bill to protect children from unsafe toys.

"It's been a long, hard decade," said Linda Ginzel, who lost her son ten years ago due to an accident in an faulty crib. The legislation is as close as it ever has been to becoming reality, she said. "The time is now."