It’s not just presidential candidates. Freshman Democrat Bruce Braley of Iowa held three district events on Monday and Tuesday in his home district to discuss the issue.

Nor is it just Democrats. A bipartisan measure that would expand the powers of the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSP) passed a House committee before members headed home. A bill has also passed a key Senate panel.

When lawmakers return, Congress is likely to pass a bill to beef up the CPSC, acknowledged Joan Lawrence, who is the vice president for standards and government affairs at the Toy Industry Association.

Facing flak from all sides, the toy industry is walking a delicate line. It embraces components of the legislation as it also tries to relax public fears about the safety of Barbies or Dora the Explorers heading into its most wonderful time of the year.

The Toy Industry Association, for example, developed a Website, toyinfo.org, that explains that toy recalls are not necessarily a bad thing: they prove that defective toys are discovered and taken off the shelves. Recalls are a “safety net of a robust safety system,” the website states.

Still, Lawrence added, the overwhelming majority of 3 billion toys sold annually in the United States are safe. The site also details the current testing process.

“These toy recalls, while they have gotten a lot of attention, make up less than one-half of one percent of all the toys sold annually,” she said.

The Senate bill would impose stiff new fines on companies that knowingly sell defective products. It would allow states to regulate toy safety and would require more public disclosure of industry safety information.

Industry groups have complained the fines in the Senate measure are too steep – up from the current $1.8 million penalty to $100 million – and that additional public disclosure could be counterproductive.

Lawrence said her group supports the sections of the bill that relate specifically to toys. She added that CPSC should have a bigger budget and toy testing should be mandatory instead of voluntary, as it now is.

And Lawrence said that her trade group also supports lowering the amount of allowable lead levels in toys, another component of the bills being contemplated on Capitol Hill.

In her speech, Clinton noted there have been 72 toy recalls this year that affected 32 million toys. Some have been found to have excessive levels of lead in their paint.

Aqua Dots, colored beads, were taken off the shelves this month because they were found to have a similar affect as date rape drugs if swallowed.

Toyinfo.org acknowledged the year has been “atypical” for the industry.

Even so, “toys are very safe,” Lawrence said. “Consumers can feel confident.”

The industry is banking on it. Three-fourths of the toys purchased each year are sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.