The health and safety of children is a powerful incentive for strengthening consumer protections. That's evident this week, in the wake of the latest recall of unsafe toys, with a push for voluntary inspections of Chinese imports.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin rightly expects toy industry executives to accept that idea, while waiting for Congress to make inspections mandatory.

Durbin is chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency that oversees the quality of products in the U.S.

China sits squarely in the crosshairs of our national outrage, owing to the latest recalls of unsafe toys it produced on contract for Mattel Inc., as well as a series of tainted food episodes.

But in a globalized economy, a strategy to safeguard American consumers must be comprehensive rather than targeting any single supplier.

That's why it's important for the Senate to take a hard look at two broader measures: