On Thrill Rides, Safety Is Optional

At a House hearing on Nov. 15, Stearns also argued that what Markey called the "roller-coaster loophole" has worked fine, and that the consumer agency already had enough on its plate. He brought large charts conveying the industry's message that theme park accidents per capita are less frequent than those caused by leisure pursuits such as basketball, football, and other popular sports shared by adults as well as children.

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That claim is hard to judge, because the CPSC stopped issuing reports of fixed-site ride injuries in 2005, when the official who compiled them resigned. Theme park lobbyists complained that the final estimate of 3,400 injuries in 2004 was double the parks' own count.

The subcommittee's new chairman, Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), said little during the exchange between Markey and Stearns. Rush has said that he is committed to overhauling and improving enforcement at the CPSC. "I told him I would look at it," he said in an interview about Markey's amendment. "I haven't been to an amusement park in years. It's not something I'm really conscious about."

But he added that he supports an amusement and hospitality industry plan to tap more than $200 million in federal funding for a program to bring more tourists to the United States. "Tourism is a very important agenda item for me," he said.

Robert W. Johnson, who helped lead the fight against federal jurisdiction 26 years ago and is now president of the Outdoor Amusement Business Association, whose 5,000 members include theme park and carnival operators, said: "You have to look at the risk-reward of these programs. . . . There may be people out there who want more regulation, but there has to be a return on that investment."

Amusement parks, he said, "need less taxes, less government oversight. But they need federal support" to bring in more visitors.

Staff researchers Madonna Lebling and Rena Kirsch and database editor Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.