We ran a full page ad in some editions of USA Today yesterday urging Congress to finish the CPSC Reform Act. ExxonMobil and the toy industry are pulling out all the stops to delay it or gut it. If they delay it until after the August recess, there's a chance Congress will not finish the job of protecting America's littlest consumers.

You can see the ad, and if you like it, help defray its cost, by logging on here.

ExxonMobil makes phthalates, the toxic chemicals that are endocrine disruptors linked to developmental disorders. The Senate version of the CPSC Reform Act would ban phthalates in children's products and toys to limit this risk. The House has so far refused to take the provision.

The toy industry is insisting on adding a new harmful layer of preemption to the CPSC Reform Act's (both House and Senate) centerpiece requirement that all toys undergo independent third party testing. It is always a mistake to preempt the right of the states to solve consumer or environmental problems. Some mistakes are bigger than others, though. When you have a new, untested federal law provision -- such as third party testing -- that may not work and may not completely solve the problem addressed by Congress, it would be one of those big mistakes to tell the states they have no authority to to fix what Congress didn't fix.

Why should Congress listen to the companies that created the mess that Congress is trying to clean up on this matter anyway? Shouldn't Congress listen instead to the state Attorneys General who've been leaders in protecting consumers and who oppose this provision, too?