And child safety advocate Krystal Ellis who lost her twoyearold son to a furniture tip over. The hearing examines several Consumer Protection bills introduced by committee members. This is just over an hour. We will be called to the floor before too long for a long series of votes and i want to hear from our witnesses. The American People are skeptical of what does government do for them. Proud and i feel so on this subcommittee because the kinds of things we are talking about today are about saving lives. We are actually going to make a difference in the lives of everyday americans. Ourpreciate so much witnesses for being here today. We are going to consider seven bills aimed at protecting consumers, and saving lives. Vice chair,ittees Tony Cardenas introduced the safe sleep act of 2019, which would ban inclined sleep products. The chairman of the sumer, chairman burgled in i wrote to the chairman asking to remove the rock and play. There are other inclined sleep products that are a risk so i am grateful to congress ms. Congressman. Annie who hask waved onto the subcommittee. She and buddy carter have introduced the nicholas and monoxideert carbon poisoning act. Those are two brothers who died and we want to prevent that. This would establish the sea pfc Grant Program to have states install Carbon Monoxide detector theres an childs there detectors in childcare facilities, homes for low income families, or seniors. Joyce,ompson and david they do not serve on the committee, but they have an important bill that we will be considering, a portable fuel container safety act which would establish a mandatory standard for flame mitigation devices in portable fuel containers. Introduced the safer occupancy furniture flammability act, otherwise known as sofa, which would adopt californias standards for upholding furniture flammability, which would the standard for upholstered furniture flammability. Bills, theoduced two first is the sturdy act, which to enact fact the cpfc a mandatory standard to prevent stern furniture tip overs. Day, commonf every pieces of furniture like clothing storage units, dressers, and desks tip and fall. Unfortunately, according to the overs inflict around three injuries per hour in the United States, and we are going to hear worse today from crystal and missus ellis. In 2020 alone, over 2 Million Units of childrens products faced recall and nursery furniture was a leading category. C rulemaking cannot move fast enough. In the last 10 years they finalized only one mandatory safety standard. We certainly need to speed that up. In the meantime we need to pass legislation. The second bill i have introduced with friends from chicago, congresswoman robin kelly, and congressman bobby rush is the safe cribs act, which would ban crib bumpers. The American Academy of pediatrics safe sleep recommendation recommends flat, firms sleep on surfaces and not and does not recommend the use of crib bumpers. Families need that right now. I am going to recognize our Ranking Member who is introduced who has introduced important piece of legislation. I recognize you for five minutes. Thank you. Welcome everyone to the consumer today marks our first legislative hearing and i am here to discuss important issues for peoples safety. I would like to thank our chairwoman for our leadership. We talked about the importance of bipartisan work, which was why i was surprised by the action leading up to the hearing. It was mymy bill, understanding that to speed up the fast track recall process that it would be considered as a draft as we continued our negotiations. However this week our staff was informed that it will not consider staff drafts for legislative hearings, so i was be real dared when yesterday the Health Subcommittee did that with the no surprise act. As all members can appreciate, finding out hours before a deadline that a bill needs to be introduced does not give us the time to incorporate feedback, find cosponsors or do any of the proper work required. All that said, i introduced my bill before the hearing and i am committed to finding a bipartisan consensus to improve it. I am glad the majority and grateful that the majority is including it for consideration. A bipartisan approach moving forward does not only give Solutions Best chance to become law, it also gives the public the best chance of seeing results that keep them safe. Mission is to protect people against risk of injuries and Death Associated with Consumer Products. While we cannot protect everyone from every harm, it is our job to address substantial hazards. Without creating too many opportunities with dangerous workaround. One of the bills today deals with crib bumpers. It is critical that we examine what states have done. We do not want to create the risk of parents putting when or pillows, which poses a suffocating danger, back in the crib because they cannot access safe mesh bumpers. This subcommittee held an oversight hearing with an acting chair and four commissioners of cpfc. The chair is steadfast in her efforts to advance the Safety Mission of the agency. Again i urge my colleagues to confirm her. Small in sizeough has a broad jurisdiction. Has 15 thousands of products that should be used can be used every day. We have heard concerns with the slow speed of the Fast Track Recall Program. In some cases recalls are taking months. Examplesls highlights in his testimony that prove why we should speed rings up. Examples like a two week approval process. Phrases on social media posts, or requiring tollfree numbers which may have made which may have made sense in the 90s, but not anymore. The program is intended to protect people by Encouraging Companies to come forward so that they can work with an agency. Like many things in washington, fasttrack is slow because of an outdated bureaucracy. The program from 1995 is not functioning today. Some companies have bypassed it completely, leaving the cpfc out of the process. It is time for an update. It is important to maintain the connections between the cpfc and good actors in the industry, especially when it means removing hazardous products to keep our kids out of harms way. That is why i have introduced the focusing attention on safety, transparency on faster reasons faster recalls. My solution will make it work by giving consumers notice more quickly when a Company Submits a specific recall plan. I learning from the Company Initiated recall processes from the f da, it will allow the business to notify the commission of a recall it would direct the agency to promptly release a notice. No more delays over tollfree numbers. Dangerouss who own baby cribs and rockers, for households with appliances that are a fire risk. For children with toys who are a choking hazard. These delays cannot happen. They will get these products out of our homes and off of the shelves as quickly as possible and still give the commission the flexibility it needs to ensure a company remedy is right , and if necessary to initiate its own recall. Thereomething goes wrong, is a process in place, and i hope we can work in a way to find a solution. There are many other important issues such as portable fuel container state Safety Standards. I sat down with mrs. Ellis on the issue of the tip overs. I appreciate all of the witnesses and look forward to your testimony. The chair now recognizes mr. Pallone, chairman of the subcommittees for five minutes for his opening statement. Pallone two months ago they discussed whether the Consumer Product Safety Commission is fulfilling its promise. When it is at its best it is working proactively. As we heard from many of our witnesses and some commissioners, it has not been at its best lately. To put it simply, we are here to discuss important consumer legislation because it is necessary because cpfc has not done its job. It is let industry shut set its own rules. Fisherprice designed, marketed, and sold the rock and play sleeper when its attended intended use one against the device of pediatricians. A decade later, fisherprice admitted that it was aware of 32 infants who had died in the product and agreed to recall all 4. 1 7 million rock and play sleepers. A similar product was recalled after at least five deaths were reported. Dangers wellut the before the recall and did not take action. They were announced shortly after the subcommittee scheduled an oversight hearing. And, after it inadvertently provided Consumer Reports with details of the infant death in the products, which it hazard had refused to disclose. It should not take a congressional hearing or accidental disclosure to get a deadly product off of the cell of the shelves. It should be their top priority. Act, its cpfc wants to process is so tedious that years will go by before any standards are in place. Kids and consumers cannot afford to wait that long. Agreestisan majority that a mandatory furniture tip over legislation is necessary but it would take years. Nearly every safety rule that it has issued over the last eight decades for other products used a streamlined process that congress authorized. Bills we are considering that would direct cpfc to follow a similar process to address hazards from affordable furniture tip over and affordable fuel containers. I am pleased to see that a number of these bills are supported by democrats and republicans. Passing these bills would put Safety Standards in place and save lives. I look forward to looking working with my colleagues. Congress should not have to pass a law telling cpfc to address every dangerous every dangerous product. Its authority does not allow it to respond quickly and we should consider revising that authority. I would like to yield one minute to mr. Cardin this, and another one to representative custer. Ep. Cardenas this week i introduced a bill, the safety sleep for babies act which bans inclined sleep products. I introduced this because babies were dying unnecessarily because companies decided making money was more important than putting infants lives in danger. Because it because a regulatory industry decided to be puppets, was the Consumer Product Safety Commission waiting for a higher body count, i do not know. There is plenty of blame to go around. Ic is thatr failing of the cpsc, and even with two recent recalls, products made by other companies are still on the market. As a grandparent it is appalling. Not be we should be putting childrens the putting childrens life before profits. I would like to say thank you mr. Chairman and i yield back. Kuster thank you for convening this hearing. As a mother of two boys, i know nothing is more important than keeping our children safe. At a young age we tell children to be careful crossing the street, who always wear seatbelts and to handle sharp objects with care, yet there are some threats that loved ones cannot see. One of the most dangerous is Carbon Monoxide, which is the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. I appreciate the hearing discussing my bill, hr 1618. This with my republican colleague. Incentivizesion states passed laws requiring Carbon Monoxide alarms and schools, homes, and commercial grants money to install Carbon Monoxide detector there is. I seek consent to enter into records letters of support from the Security Industry organization and safe kids worldwide. I yield back my time. Without objection, we will put that information into the record. To now, i would like recognize acting Ranking Member mr. Waldon for his opening statement. Walden i would like to say good morning to you and all of our Witnesses Today. We will benefit from your testimony as we discuss these bills in the first legislative hearing in the year. This is important for a couple of reasons. First, the opportunity to discuss the bills under consideration and policies to improve the safety of products and keeps kids and consumers safe. To the i want to talk public about the risks and how they can make sure that they are taking steps to protect themselves and their families. I am grateful that representative roberts has introduced the bill, because as we hear, the Fast Track Recall Program good actors who want to get information to their customers fast are slowed down a lot, and we do need to find a solution, and i think we can and will. There is a lot a bipartisan support for this proposal and i look forward to hear from our witnesses about it. In april we heard from the cpfc commissioners and another a number of interested parties about products the pacific issues as well as ways to improve some of the agency processes. We have heard from many stakeholders about concerns from the existing program. To keep kids and consumers safe, but is the goal. By removing potentially hazardous products as quickly and efficiently as possible, and it does not apply to just one or two products, to all 15 product cftcsies in the jurisdiction. It has slowed unnecessary. Do not add substantially to the benefit of consumers. And, further they delay for weeks if not months when consumers are told about potentially dangerous products. If a Company Wants to recall a product, shouldnt we be encouraging them to work with the cpfc and not go around the agency. The answer is clearly yes, which is why a appreciate the work of miss rogers that she has put down put into solicit comments and ideas to improve this program. This creates a process that removes unnecessary red tape slowing down recalls and mirrors programs that are already tsa. Ing at the fda and nh we are committed to working on the bill with our colleagues and i think we can find a bipartisan solution to this issue. I want to applaud missus rogers for her approach. I urge my colleagues to support this as we move forward. One last point is to take this opportunity to reiterate my strong support for acting chair broke old to be confirmed for her to be confirmed as a new chair. She is well positioned to lead this agency and has demonstrated her commitment to protect consumers. I am hopeful that our senate colleagues, who i am sure are dialed into our hearing and hanging on every one of our words will act so that we can get a chair in there and confirmed. Thank you for your leadership on all of these Consumer Product safety issues over the years. I know it is a great passion and you have saved lives through your work. We want to be partners moving forward. With that, and let unless anyone else wants time, i yield back. The gentleman yields back. I would like to remind all embers that all members written Opening Statements will be made part of the record. It is my honor to introduced the Witnesses Today starting right to left. Let me introduce mr. Will wallace, the manager home and policy from Consumer Reports. Membersellis, founding of parents against to pulvers. I especially want to thank you for being here today. It would have been your sons seventh birthday, i understand. Thank mr. Chris parson, president of the minnesota professional firefighters association, we thank you so much for traveling here. Mr. Charles samuel, who is a member of a law firm. Thank you for being here. And we absolutely look forward to the testimony. Nowhis time, the chair will recognize each of the witnesses for five minutes to provide their Opening Statements before we begin. I just want to make sure that i explain the lighting system. Most of you probably understand that in front of you or a series of lights. The light will initially be green at the start of your opening statement. The light will turn yellow and you have one minute remaining, please begin to wrap up your testimony at that point. The light will turn red when your time has expired, that. Ularly because hope you wy if you dont mind i will start mr. Wallace you are recognized for five minutes. Wallace thank you for the opportunity to be here on behalf of Consumer Reports. The Member Organization that works side by side with consumers a in the marketplace. This is a Critical Agency with a Public Health and Safety Mission. It plays a role in protecting consumers. The havere because failed to protect their children and families. Hear old camden alice, conor delong of lakeland, florida and a total of 206 children sincere 2000. They died under the weight of clothing storage furnitures despite manufacturers being able to build a more stable dresser at the same price point. To overs are a hidden has they send thousands of people to the emergency room annually but people often dont know the danger and dressers are deadly. We have found that it Industries Standard is inadequate to protect children. A mandatory standard is feasible and necessary. The industry failed five month old ezra overton of arlington, junior. Incense died infant died. He cousin and industry driven strong hassan that standard. The entire idea of an inclined conflicts with American Academy of pediatrics safety recommendations and it should be eliminated. While we reckon the recalls of this spurring, this particular recalls are not likely to be effective at getting the products out of the homes. An erroneous data release about which we public publish stories allow the public to know the severity of the danger. We need to put the safety of the American Public first and is empowered and funded to do so. Right now we dont have either. It is so important for you to take the opportunity to support sturdy, safe crypts fuel containers safety and Carbon Monoxide acts which will show that you put the safety of American Children and families first. You also can reject the act in its current form which would disempower and give companies more control over life and death decision over recall implementation. As members continue to work on that legislation, in particular, we would recommend speaking with those who have significant experience from the consumer advocacys and safety side with respect to the recall implementation at the fda. There are concerns without network. How that works. You have the opportunity to eliminate sections which would have cap the inclined sleepers hidden. It requires proaction by cpsc leadership. While not on the agenda today we urge you to support efforts to strengthen the staff and efforts. Your children and families your constituents have had enough of this failure. All americans deserve so much more than they are getting today when it comes to the safety of the homes in the products they buy and we look forward to working with you to protect them. Thank you for your testimony. Alice ellis. Likeganization of families mine who have lost a child to furniture tip over. Thank you to each of you for allowing me the opportunity tos today. Today is a difficult day for me. Camdenould be my son seven berkeley. His birthday he was killed five years ago on fathers day and a furniture tip over incident. Fell as he tried to reach inside to get his clothing. Trapped, he was able to cry for help and we did not hear him. His father found him when he got him up for breakfast. I can still hear my husband screams. ,fter try my best to revive him at four days in a coma we had to say goodbye. Donating his organs to save another family. At the time i thought this was a freak accident and i had no idea that this was a danger. When i discover that he was not only the seventh child to die because of the negligence of this particular Manual Action or that childrenll were dying at the rate of one every 10 days of furniture due to furniture tip overs. Gettingken multiple ready for baby classes. None of the educators, leaders or parents have ever told me about the risk of dresser tip overs. I know there are many parents that also have no idea that their dresser is a risk they that any product that is sold in the United States of etted by theiren v government. Is aeath every 10 days crisis that needs to be addressed immediately. It has been five years since the death of my son, over 14 years from the earliest death in our group. I believe a mandatory standard that takes into account real world use by a child would have saved my son. We need this act for many reasons. The lack of progress in working with manufacturers to get them to do the right thing. Consumer advocates and parents have tried for 20 years. How to fixrs know this by engineering these tip overs out of the design. By multiple accounts and measures this is one of the most contentious subcommittee overseeing. On addressingled the furniture tip over issue. They keep saying we need more data. Data is are dead and injured children. We do not need more data. Even with the statistics we already have we know that data is underreported. Every dresser that falls at the rate of one er visit one every 17 minutes hassan potential to be a death or life altering injury. There are still dozens of negative votes at the last ballot. We should make the current voluntary standard mandatory but we know the standard is not enough. The deathponsible for delongyear old collar and Twin Brothers in 2017. It will make it much more difficult to make the standard Strong Enough to check consumers. Even though they have expressed that tip overs are their highest priority this sheet are, are still not using every tool available to them including. Ection one of rule making also from participating in the meeting on may 10 i feel the manufacturers are not afraid of repercussions. Between the small budget and hands being tied, the manufacturers know they have time to stall and time will result to more desks of more children death of more a voice for parents who cannot find there is because they are overwhelmed by the darkness of grief and sadness that we have all experienced. Furniture tip over is not a partisan issue. Unstable for furniture does not this government. Thank you for allawi me to speak today. Allowing me to speak today. Ellis. K you, miss i appreciate your testimony. Happy to introduce thank you. I am Christopher Parsons president of firefighters. Association of firefighters. I serve as captain with the st. Paul, Minnesota Fire Department and have seen firsthand the result of lax consumer safety laws in the communities. Publicfects not only the , but firefighters. The federal government can and should do more to help her the prevent tragedies, portable safety act. Firefighters and paramedics responded to nearly one. 5 working fires. With each response, firefighters were exploded exposed to flame retardants. Flame retardants were placed in furniture to meet and out dated 44yearold standard. It proved to be toxic when on fire. According to studies firefighters are dying of cancer at an alarming rate. They have an increased risk of dying from cancer as repaired to the normal as compared to the population. A study of firefighters blood after working fires found timess more than 100 larger than the public. Flame retardants are not only ineffective. Fires involving furniture treated with flame retardants only provided only three extra seconds of escape time while producing choices much smoke and seven times the amount of dioxide compared to nontreated furniture. It will add further injury and death. To continue the use of toxic flame retardants. Endorseis pleased to 117 23rd teen and National Standard replacing outdated open flametests that led to retardants on future. The 2013 california standard reduce the presence of flame reducedts which toxicity to firefighters. The iff also supports the efforts to update container standards. , flame jetting occurs when papers escape from an open nozzle and arik nodded ignited. Eyewitness flame jetting at a fire, the initial fire was on exterior deck of the house but the flame caused an increase in the intensity of the fire. It shelter a doorway into the interior of the house and turned an uneventful fire torry into a prolonged fire. For as little as . 25 manufacturers of flammable liquid containers can add a flame arrestor to prevent their rapid release of vapors. Would direct the installation of flame arresters in all contenders manufactured to hold flammable liquids. To supportpleased the prevention act. Carbon monoxide poisoning accounts for 20,000 emergency room visits and 400 deaths nationwide did minnesotas in 1995 nicholas and Zachary Burke died in their beds as a result of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Like the firefighters that responded, i also have witnessed this firsthand when responding to a Senior Citizen who it passed away due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Tragedies like these are avoidable with a working Carbon Monoxide detector in the home. Despite the clear dangers, many people remain unaware for the need for Carbon Monoxide detectors. This will will change that. While simultaneously providing grants to purchase and install of seniors, low income citizens and seniors. Theseress our support for three important safety bills and i am happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. Allink we think firefighters are heroes. Mr. Samuels, you are now wrecking nice for five minutes. Thank you for the invitation cpsc fast about the track. I have practiced law for 35 years. This small agency is critical to the safety of americans and the vast majority is ae industry claim it value. Sometimes their efforts fail and recalls are required. Thank you representative rogers, for introducing the faster act. Fastll start improving track incentivizes companies to remote remove unsafe products. Fast track is a significant innovation. It should not be allowed to languish. It should be revitalized. To participate, the business must be prepared to implement an action plan consumer level recall within 20 days of sub mending a fasttrack resort that fasttrack report. Program provides benefits by removing the product from commerce the potential for weury claims is reduced and will not make a determination that the product contains a defect that contains a hazard. The action plan includes a remedy, a chilling news released a joint news release. Reverse logistics plan. This is a significant amount of work that requires planning. Byely review and approval thatpsc is that if languishes and the fasttrack is no longer there, what i have seen that the process closed down a cause of prolonged examination back and forth regarding the components of the recall and especially the press release. This emphasizes onesizefitsall over the need for getting Safety Information to consumers. Because it is no longer fast some companies are bypassing it withptioning for working announcing the recall on their own without cpsc. This is not the fault of cpsc staff, agency concerns cannot be criticized. Data back and forth about press releases and other communications, whether it is a lack of resources, this can take weeks. We have experience a look , which weredelays not substantive. Worth none of this is these lengthy delays. Submits theny required information, it should be posted on the commissions website. If it obtains information that the remedy provided is not adequate, we will investigate. Inpanies have an interest ensuring the success of the recall. They do not micromanage recalls and their approach is successful. We must make sure that the bill before Thenot Company is ready to launch. We also need to make sure that we are not providing the butission great discretion companies will fear they will undertake multiple recalls. Iss get out theirsumers quickly or on own to protect themselves and their families. If the Company Proposes a remedy that is not safe to Commission Must have the authority to protect the public. I hope they will use this bill as a basis for agreement, undoubtedly alternative language will be offered. Thank you. You mr. Samuels. The witnessesded Opening Statements. We now move to questions. Each member has five minutes to ask questions of the witnesses. I will start. , i cant thank you enough, it takes great courage for you to be here. Would like you to elaborate on is why cant we just rely on voluntary standards that are. Eing developed both the standard itself, and also voluntary part of that. Thank you. To address the issue of voluntary standard, the standard we have currently is still allowing children to be insured and two. Two die. Shows that the standard is not ok. Honestry standards to be isnt even wanted by the industry. They want a mandatory standard so that other industry members will be held accountable. It is something that we do agree on, im mandatory standard. We just need to make it tougher. Groupnow you now have a how does the group of parents that have lost children . Our membership started with nine parents, however, we are growing and we continue to grow. There are so many parents that we represent may never be in a place to advocate by this tragedy have you heard by any of these people both the members of your group and people on your staff if there was anything whatsoever that this was a dangerous thing . No one knew. Expensive dressers kill children, its across all demographics. Mr. Wallace, Consumer Reports has done testing to learn more about how to prevent tip overs. Tell can they tell by manipulating it . There is no easy way for consumers to tell whether a dresser will tip over just by looking at it. Crib atroduced the safe. Hich would ban crib bumpers they have been banned in chicago since 2011 and for good reason. Crib bumpers are inconsistent with the Safety Standards by professionals. The doctors who for years have recommended that babies sleep in baby cribs free of clutter. Federal regulators received her ports of babies suffocating four years for years. What are your thoughts on banning crib bumpers . These are not they contribute to an unsafe sleep environment. The American Academy of edf tricks is clear, looking at the medical evidence that babies should sleep on his back in its own space on a flat surface that has nothing else in it. No added betting. Betting. We suspect there is a lot of confusion out there. Right now, parents may think that these are necessary for the safety. That is not the case. By the old cribs data gaps were quite wide. The new standard is narrow and the babys head can no longer get entrapped as a result. These products not only create a danger for children but they are also unnecessary. I remember with my kids, and it seems like we need to go a step further. I appreciate all my witnesses. I would like to recognize our work Ranking Member miss rogers for five minutes. Thank you, ms. Chairman. Thank you for holding this hearing today so we can dig into these issues more deep lake deeply. I am an older mom, i have three Young Children now. Brian had some friends who have lost a toddler when a bookshelf tell over on him. Brian has been paranoid about the tip over in that household. Best thingent is the that his happened and also the hardest thing that has happened. I wanted to say especially to advocacy,s for the taking what is unimaginable and becoming advocates for that for all of us at ross this country. All across this country. Possible to protect others. So i want to say thank you to crystal, margaret in the audience, and others who are advocating so that we can figure out how to get this right. Captain parsons, thank you for your service and highlighting so many issues important to firefighters, and also as we try to protect people from the danger of fire. Mr. Wallace, all my legislation on the fast track i would encourage you to let me know what you think needs to happen so we can make the Fast Track Recall Program actually work. That is the goal, to make a bipartisan so we can get it done. , you know, your testimony certainly highlighted some around the fast recall program and since that is the bill that i am advocating for this morning, i wanted you to take time and highlight some of the examples on how the process has slowed and what has caused delays. Thank you. where you have a situation where the Company Recognizes that there must be a recall, then you public ast out to the soon as possible, when you are ready to announce the recall. That is the whole genius of the fast track program, which was developed by career employees at the cpsc 20 years ago. It is recognized actually by Vice President gore with an innovation award. Happenedtime, what has , as with many things in a Regulatory Environment and with bureaucracy, they have fallen into patterns. Fossil ms become fossilized. They want to have exactly the same press release, they want everybody to follow the same path for a recall. Wording changes in press releases, changes in the communications to consumers or distributors or retailers they have got certain formats, they insist on it. Questions ory ask try to impose requirements when you really should be getting answers out to the public and announcing the recall. So that is what the problem is. And euro bill is a great starting point for discussion your bill is a great starting point for this discussion, so these companies can make announcements as soon as possible. The cpsc has other avenues under current law to investigate companies and conduct recalls, right . Absolutely. This bill would not impact those authorities. Not at all, the basic requirements for filing under section 15 is untouched. Most recalls probably will continue under the conventional process. And if a company uses the fast track, even now, but certainly under your bill, and the remedy is inadequate, they do not do a good job in repairing the product or replacing it with a safe product, or they do not accurately describe the products that need to be recalled, then cpsc has the authority now and would have it under your bill to require possibly a second recall. Ok, think you very much. I yield back. Rep. Schakowsky thank you. Fornize congresswoman five minutes. Thank you madam chairwoman. Thank you so much to the panel. A special note of thanks to the parents and especially miss alice. Before coming ellis. Before coming, we had the opportunity to talk. I want to say that on the seventh birthday of camden, there is no better way to honor him then standing up for families and children across our country. So i just want to say thank you for that. And happy birthday to camden. When i thought about this issue, listening even to my colleagues, theear the uh conversation about Carbon Monoxide poisoning. In delaware, we had an actual father who experienced this with his son in a motel, a very famous person actually. He was able to advocate and get help on the state level to get legislation. When we talk about sudden infant death syndrome, i remember as a parent my children are 30 and 33, but at that time we made bumpers for our baby cribs, we did things we thought were the right thing to do. And i also thought about tipping over. The same thing. Is, you made a comment, and it wasnt in my script to ask this, but you made a comment that most people do not even so they dopsc is, not even know to go and get help or to find out if there is something they need to be protected from. My question is to you and to the panel, can you speak to the lack cpsc and anyabout recommendations that you would have. Maybe we could start with mr. Wallace and go down. Mr. Wallace i will very briefly say when it comes to the tip over issue, when it comes to i mean, one of the most important steps anyone can take in their homes is they have a large piece of furniture, is to anchor it to the wall. But at the same time, we have found through a survey of consumers, a nationally representative survey, that it is not an easy fix for most consumers. Many had not even heard of it. That is one example. Ms. Ellis i will speak to the fact that not only did i not know what it was, i assumed that government protected me. I did not know what specific agency, i figured my government protected me. And then after camden died, i spoke to kathy about there are a lot of Government Agencies asking you what you did wrong, what is going on. You have the police, the hospital administrators. I am a lawabiding citizen, but i was terrified my other child would be taken away until they could figure it out. Then the cpsc sent a letter saying, give me all the details. And i went, no thanks. Because it is just not, i do not know what your purpose is, i have never heard of you and why would i want to tell one more Government Agency about the most terrifying day of my life. Congresswoman rochester, before i got involved in my work with flame retardant in minnesota, i had very little knowledge of the cpsc and the work it has done. It is extremely important work. We all lead busy lives and we are not always able to digest all of the information that is out there on products. But i remember that as a child growing up in the 1980s, when the big smoking initiatives were occurring through the surgeon smoking. We cut down on smoking among children. Perhaps we need another initiative along those lines, because Consumer Protection is critical for the general public. Mr. Samuels, about 40 seconds. Mr. Samuels let me say that this agency is under resourced, that is the fault of the congress. It does not have the capabilities to do the communications and education it should. The budget is vastly smaller than the fdas. And it really needs the support of congress. Rochester i want to thank you all for being here. Thank you for the leadership from chairwoman the chairwoman and miss rogers. Thank you. Tellschakowsky i want to recall. Gov. Tening, recalls. Gov will connect you to a list of those products that have been recalled. Safe products. Rproducts. Gov is a place to go to talk about or look at products you think are not safe. Chair. K you madam thank you for your testimony. If i could ask my question to mr. Wallace, the new crib standards have narrowed the distance between slides, but i continue to be concerned about the enchantments for children. To prevent chapmans, several companies have come out with the mesh crib liners instead of the padded bumpers. Several studies looking at mesh crib liners have shown there have been no fatalities or injuries treated in emergency departments, no incidents with supplication. In the state of ohio and several other states, lawmakers have recognized this data and have fromded mesh crib liners legislation with bumpers. My. Is that parents my theory is that parents will take matters into their own hands and self improvise to prevent entrapment. In a written testimony, you stated that these products do not survey safety purpose, did you consider the mesh crib liners when you made a determination . Mr. Wallace i could not hear the end. Did you consider the mesh crib liners when you made your determination . Mr. Wallace the bumpers are linked to suffocation. The mesh liners are new products and we do not have enough data. I think the ohio law was wise in recognizing that this needed to be revisited, but right now it is carved out of the ohio law, the mesh liners. But if the law charges everybody to come back after i believe two years and revisit the state of the evidence. Rep. Latta have you conducted any tests or anything like that with Consumer Reports with those . Mr. Wallace we have not tested mesh liners or padded crib bumpers. Rep. Latta are you planning on the near future . Mr. Wallace we do not currently have plans. We do not think that they are consistent with a safe sleep environment. We think that a bear crib is best. And we want to make sure that not to confuse anybody about that were send mixed messages, because it is critical to get that message out, as we have since the 1980s. And it isb it is best critical not put anything in the infant sleep environment. Rep. Latta will become a thank you. Ok, thinking. Cap it, thank you for everything you are doing. I want to focus on the portable container safety act. This legislation requires a flame litigation device to be used on portable fuel containers for the flammable liquid fuels, but also allow for a voluntary standard to be considered. As the Consumer Product safety rule, if it meets the intent of the bill and other requirements. Captain, can you go into more detail to describe the different types of flame available on the markets today . Capt. Parsons can you repeat the question . Rep. Latta could you go into more detail and describe the different types of flame available on the market today . Capt. Parsons i do not have information on the different types. I would be more than happy to provide that information to you at a later time. Rep. Latta i would appreciate that. I know that you spoke about this earlier, go again into detail in discussing how the flame prevent the flames from jetting out . Capt. Parsons my understanding is that when flammable liquid containers, when they ignite, pressure builds up in the container itself. And that then shoots flammable vapors out of the opening. This arrester would keep the vapors from escaping through that opening, thus keeping a flame from shooting from the opening. Rep. Latta madam chair, i will yield back the balance of my time. Rep. Schakowsky thank you. I will recognize congressman soto for five minutes. On the clock, just under four minutes. However coming . However, 300 624 people have not ed, so we will continue 364 people have not voted, so we will continue. It was not more than two weeks ago i had a florida mother, megan delong, come into my office from the sarasota child,talking about her connor, who died due to a dresser that was not balanced correctly and imported me to make sure to support this dirty act. Sturdy act. I know that we are joined today by miss ellis. Thank you for fighting for our kids. Whether it is that, crib bumpers were Carbon Monoxide detectors bills that arer out today that we are work shopping, there is a sense that people assume that government is doing something about it, but that is not always true. People assume that the agencies are doing something about it, and that is not always true. That is why we are here today. And i want to thank you for your leadership madam chairwoman on having a workshop on these bills, because for every one of there isis 100 hundreds to thousands of stories of children and seniors that are put at risk, and god for bid pass away because of negligently built risque products. So when people assume the government is working on it, this Committee Hearing today is evidence that we are and that we are hearing these stories and cries from across the nation. So thank you for that leadership. Rep. Schakowsky if you would be willing to yield. Rep. Soto i yield back. Rep. Schakowsky i will give congresswoman kelly the time. Rep. Kelly ok, thank you chairwoman. Miss ellis for your testimony. The lifethreatening hazards of unsafe household products such as dressers and crib bumpers can affect anyone and everyone. In the city of chicago, we have nned the use of crib bumpers, giving chicago parents more of. My district is actually in the city of chicago, most of them in the south suburbs, so i have a rural portion. Into thirds at risk of my district my dislike your son. Parents are burdened with to make sure that the purchase is safe. I wanted to ask a question. When we talk about education, all of you have talked about education, doctors, parents going to parent groups that will have children or in your case, it the firefighters, who should educate beyond government . I know that we have our responsibilities to do what we need to do, but what would you recommend so that we get to everyday people about what they should do . Ms. Ellis i really am glad to see that the American Academy of pediatrics is backing the sturdy act. My pediatrician had a tip of her story herself, she happened to be in the room with her eight happened. Hen it i am also working in Washington State with child profile to add tip over information to the packets that get sent to families. I think a conversation, especially with your pediatrician when you are going in for checks, have you looked at your dresser, have you anchored it to the wall, have you considered all of the different hazards in your home . It should be part of that conversation. Rep. Kelly captain . Capt. Parsons when i first started working with the flame retardant issue, i was scratching my head, why would a firefighter be against flame retardant . Moreore i dug into it, the information i got from colleagues and others, the issue is very clear and very present in all of our lives. As firefighters, we were all affected. As president of the Minnesota State association, we took it upon ourselves to educate our firefighters in the state, because firefighters will listen to other firefighters. That is how we tackle that. As far as consumer safety products, perhaps putting poor more emphasis on retailers to get it packaging. You cannot purchase cigarettes without seeing the Surgeon General warning, so perhaps Something Like that so it is in everybodys mind. Rep. Kelly i yield back. And thank you chairwoman for your vigilance. Rep. Schakowsky there is still 270 people who have not voted yet, not that i want to promote delinquency when it comes to voting, but i wondered if you had something short that you wanted to present. Rep. Ohalleran data short. Former first , weonder, Police Officer have seen a lot of death. Some of them preventable, some accidental. It wass case, preventable. In many cases with Young Children dying it is preventable. What i have heard today is the action that there is the action by agencies is too slow, the education process needs to be brought to a higher level. Mr. Samuels clearly indicated that the agency is underfunded, vastly underfunded. I believe it is, along with other agencies that address the needs of the safety of our citizens. Need, you said there is a need to do more. It is critical that we do more. It is also critical that congress looks itself in the mirror and it says, we need to do more. This idea that people
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