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U.S.
Senator Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees |
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For Immediate
Release Wednesday , March 5, 2008 |
CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-494-8790 |
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| Sen. Salazar Fights for Safe Toys and Products for America's Children and Consumers WASHINGTON, DC – In recent months, from lead in toys to toxic toothpaste, we have seen an increase in news reports about dangerous and sometimes lethal products that make their way into consumers’ hands. This week, the United States Senate began consideration of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) Reform Act, which gives the CSPC the resources, authority and oversight it needs to protect American consumers and their families from toxic toys, tainted foods and other hazardous products. Approximately 27,000 deaths and 33,000 injuries a year result from dangerous products. There were a record number of recalls in 2007 – 473 in the last fiscal year – which has revealed serious weaknesses in the U.S. product safety system. United States Senator Ken Salazar made the following speech on the floor of the United States Senate in support of the bill and highlighted the story of Tegan Leisy, a 4-year old boy from Colorado who had a near lethal encounter with magnets from toys he was playing with. “I want to begin by sharing a story about a brave 4-year old boy from Severance, Colorado named Tegan Leisy. Tegan and his family found out about toy safety hazards the hard way. Last year, when he was just 3 years old, Tegan suddenly and inexplicably fell into severe pain and started vomiting. Tegan’s parents rushed him to the emergency room, and the doctor took a series of X-rays. The x-rays showed something in Tegan’s stomach that looked like a metal object. The doctors said the object would pass in 72 hours. It didn’t. The next day, Tegan was still in severe pain, so Tegan’s parents took him back to the hospital. This time, they admitted him and held him for observation. Over the next two days, the doctors X-rayed Tegan six times to determine if the object in his stomach was moving. It wasn’t. “So, on the third day, the surgeon decided to operate. What did they find in Tegan’s stomach? Six magnets from toys that Tegan had swallowed. The magnets had stuck together and had created eleven holes in Tegan’s intestines. The doctors had to remove six inches of his intestines. Think of that: a three-year old boy had to have portions of his intestines removed because he swallowed pieces that had come off his toys. Tegan is one of the lucky ones – he is alive because of the good work of the doctors who saved him and because his parents helped catch it in time. Not all kids get so lucky. The Consumer Product Safety Commission “Congress created the Consumer Product Safety Commission more than 30 years ago to protect American consumers against death or injury from unsafe products. However, the agency is grossly underfunded and understaffed. The CPSC estimates that products it is authorized to regulate are related to 28,200 deaths and 33.6 million injuries each year. Over 28,000 deaths a year and yet the agency only gets $63 million a year to carry out its mandate. “As a result, stories like Tegan’s have become all too familiar. In the last few months, newspapers have run stories on hundreds of cases of unsafe chemicals in toothpaste, contaminated dog food, and toys tainted with toxic levels of lead. The Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act “I support the CPSC Reform Act for several reasons. First, this bill would restore funding for the CPSC so that it can stop dangerous products and toys from even reaching the marketplace. If a dangerous product reaches the shelf, it is often too late. “Second, the bill finally takes steps to ban lead in children’s toys. Exposure to lead can cause serious neurological and developmental health problems in children. In the past year, millions of children’s toys have been recalled for containing hazardous levels of lead. The toys have included metal jewelry, train sets, and Halloween costumes. I see no reason why Congress would pass a federal law banning lead in paint, but not in children’s toys. “Third, the CPSC Reform Act would grant state attorneys general the ability to bring a civil action on behalf of its residents to obtain injunctive relief against entities that the Attorney General believes has violated a consumer product safety. I had the great privilege of serving as Colorado Attorney General for six years. As an attorney general, you want to do everything in your power to protect the citizens of your state. The narrowly-tailored watchdog power granted in this bill would have given me another tool to help protect the citizens of Colorado from unsafe and hazardous products. “There are many
other fine provisions in the CPSC Reform Act. I strongly urge my colleagues
to support the bill and to help restore American confidence in the safety
of the toys and other products that are sold in the marketplace. We
must do what we can to prevent parents across the country from experiencing
the nightmare that Tegan’s parents experienced.”
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