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November 02, 2007
Dingell, Barton Introduce House CPSC Reform Bill; CPSC chiefs love to fly
Yesterday the bi-partisan leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced their omnibus CPSC reform bill, H.R. 4040, the "Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act of 2007" (the release, the summary and the bill itself). We're still examining it and expect to sign onto joint consumer group testimony by the Consumer Federation of America at a hearing next Tuesday. This bill is on the fast track for two reasons: Speaker Pelosi and caucus chair Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) have both made recent public statements in favor of moving it to the floor this month. It's bi-partisan, as Energy and Commerce chair John Dingell (D-MI) and consumer subcommittee chair Bobby Rush (D-IL) are joined in co-sponsoring it by their respective ranking members, Joe Barton (R-TX) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL).
Meanwhile, in other CPSC news, the Washington Post's Elizabeth Williamson exposes the cozy relationship between the CPSC and industry, which often pays the tab for CPSC travel, including by acting chair Nancy Nord and her predecessor, Hal Stratton. From Williamson's story Industries Paid for Top Regulators' Travel: The records document nearly 30 trips since 2002 by the agency's acting chairman, Nancy Nord, and the previous chairman, Hal Stratton, that were paid for in full or in part by trade associations or manufacturers of products ranging from space heaters to disinfectants. The airfares, hotels and meals totaled nearly $60,000, and the destinations included China, Spain, San Francisco, New Orleans and a golf resort on Hilton Head Island, S.C. And that includes a whopper $11,000 trip by Stratton, paid for by the fireworks boys. Check it out. By the way, while government regulations may generally allow traveling on industry's nickel, most other agencies don't do it for obvious reasons. And under Ann Brown's watch as President Clinton's CPSC chair: "We hated to have an industry pay for our staff for anything," said Pam Gilbert, a lawyer who was executive director of the agency under Brown.
Posted by Ed Mierzwinski at November 2, 2007 06:13 AM
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