Here's our group letter opposing the DeMint (R-SC) amendment to substitute the narrower House bill for the comprehensive CPSC Reform Act, S 2663. In addition to the arguments I made in the previous blog entry, here's one more: If the Demint amendment passes tonight, dangerous small magnets that have killed one little boy and sent over two dozen for emergency intestinal surgery will not be regulated by the CPSC.

Other comments on floor debate: We just heard a very nice speech by Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO), who, like Mark Pryor (D-AR), is a former state attorney general. Senator Salazar spoke about the critical need to keep the state AGs on the product safety beat. Just before him, Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a PIRG/Environment California-backed amendment to limit toxic phthalates in children's products. The amendment is based on her bill, S. 2275, which is itself based on a pioneering CALPIRG/Environment California-backed state law. Environment California? New home of CALPIRG's environmental work.