A Peaceful Revolution: You Must be Kidding! Speaker Pelosi and MomsRising Stunned by CPSC

"You've got to be kidding me!" was the first thing we thought after hearing on Tuesday that Nancy Nord, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), doesn't support legislation to greatly increase resources for her agency to stop toxic products from reaching children. Right now there is only one inspector charged with testing toys.

We weren't the only people shaking our heads in disbelief. Representative Nancy Pelosi -- Speaker of the House, mother, and grandmother -- had the exact same reaction. Matter of fact, Speaker Pelosi was so upset that she contacted MomsRising yesterday to thank us for taking action, offer us the following blog post and urge our continued efforts to keep toxic products off store shelves.

Speaker Pelosi:

As mothers, there is no greater concern than the safety of our children. Yet with the recent reports of lead in toys for kids, moms and dads now have a new worry. If the recalls of toy jewelry, trains, and Halloween candy pails weren't upsetting enough, yesterday we learned that Halloween "Ugly Teeth" were recalled -- on Halloween day itself! Lead in toys is unacceptable; lead in toys children are supposed to put in their mouth is criminal.

This summer, 20 million imported toys that were manufactured overseas were recalled -- some of which contained nearly 200 times the legal limit for lead. The most heartbreaking for me was the recall of some Thomas the Tank Engine toys, a favorite among my five grandsons.

We must make sure that government lives up to its responsibility to protect our children. Parents should not have to buy a lead testing kit before letting their children play. We have a consumer protection agency to do that. Yet at the Consumer Safety Protection Commission, there is only one inspector charged with testing toys to make sure they are safe for our children. And recently, when the chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission was asked by Congress if she would request an increase of resources and funding for the commission, she refused to support this much needed action. I know we can do better.

Congress is determined to help parents who are frustrated. That is why we are working to pass legislation that will ban lead from children's toys, require testing of children's products by independent, third-party laboratories, and provide the Consumer Product Safety Commission with significantly greater resources to protect our families. For too long, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has failed to protect kids from hazardous levels of lead in their toys.

The evidence of how lead in toys harms children is overwhelming. Many years of research have shown that exposure to this neuro-toxin can have serious long-term effects, particularly on children. While the recent recalls have brought the issue to popular attention, the problem is, unfortunately, not a new one. In 2004, 2005, and 2006, millions of pieces of toy jewelry were recalled due to unsafe levels of lead.

With this legislation, we will ensure that there are no more stories like that of Jarnell Brown, a four-year-old who died in 2006 after swallowing a charm on a bracelet that contained over 99 percent lead. But we need your help. Get in touch with your Representative and Senator, and urge them to support legislation to protect our children.

I want to thank the MomsRising community for working to eliminate toxic toys. By passing this legislation and continuing our vigorous oversight, we will work to make certain not one more child is harmed by the toys we give them -- our children deserve nothing less, and certainly much more.

Build the Momentum to Stop Toxic Products! Stand with Speaker Pelosi: "We demand safe, lead-free toys for children. Congress must strengthen the agencies responsible for protecting kids from toxic products and remove the bureaucrats who are standing in the way."

Comments

[Guitarsandmore]

I always tell my daughter,” Put nothing in your mouth that isn’t food. Only put food in your mouth. Do not put things in your mouth that are not food.” They need to hear it at least three times different ways punctuated by different tones of voice, voices, rants, whispers, threats, and smiles.

You can’t wait for the government to fix everything.

[ljsfolly]

To Hell with expecting action from anyone like congress or someone bush has appointed. They care about the free trade and big money corporations, we care about our children first and only. The best way to stopp this mess and make safety first for our kids is to boycott toys. Stop buying them until they are proven to be safe. Still having recalls is a disgrace as it says loudly that no one is checking the toys still coming into the country. If it cause chaos and money issues to companies and china then so be it. We should not be expected to have to buy the handhelds to check for lead to protect kids. Knowing now what we know how long has this been going on how long have children had these toys in hand/mouth? How many kids should have blood tests for lead content? From history when our houses were painted with lead paint we know what can and did happen as a result. Boycott and hit everyone where it hurts. Ask for gifts of clothes or gift cards where you can be the one checking for the toys made in the US if you can find them. Otherwise you might find the toys have been relabeled to show they are not originally from china. Be the one to protect children and put safety first.

[buddyroe]

Nord had vacations to take in the last five or so years allegedly, from toy companies no less and we can't figure out why she needed nothing more to keep herself busy and collect that $$$ from the taxpayers. I also bet she has a pretty good benefits package with insurance. When will we hold our employees, the public servants we trust to help us, elected or appointed, to a standard of performance that takes in the needs of the many instead of the bank account of the few. How many of WE THE PEOPLE could screw up at work and still have a job let alone a severance package with insurance. We are sheep and I am saaaad.

[Lemeritus]

Clearly, Nancy Nord and, by extension, her entire commission has all the money they need. It's good to see our corporate citizens stepping up!

Jesus wept!

[polysci101]

I am growing weary of the great "American Lie." If anyone thinks that those CEO's at those toy companies didn't turn a blind eye at how those toys were manufactured and what materials were used in order to manufacture those toys as cheaply as possible....or that someone in the CPSC didn't know...you are only fooling yourself. These are not stupid people. Like most criminals, they just didn't think they would get caught. Shocked? Shocked, indeed!

[longnow]

Lets leave it to good old fashion market
capitalism. As more babies get sick, die,
or see their IQ's go down the market will
self-correct and move it's unseen hand to
a cheaper, better source. All you complaining,
socialistic mommies will just have to make better shopping decisions in this free market
economy.

I hear that Jeffery Skilling promises to help you all out once his appeal through and is
given a job as Commerce Secetary in the Bush administration.

[indigowatcher]

Empty words from a woman with no soul... Nancy Pelosi only cares about keeping her seat, not doing her job.

[mamacat]

It is just a matter of common sense to realise that what the Republicans were doing when they politicised the Justice Dept. by appointing Alberto Gonzales was not an aberration, but indicative of what they have been doing with the entire federal bureacracy.
In the Republican world view, government is something to be corrupted to their purposes.

The traditional, main stream view that government exists to implement the will of the people, and should serve the people, runs counter to the neo-con goal of politicising every possible facet of the government and the economy. Thus, we are increasingly seeing decisions based on neo-con Republican dogma, rather than common sense.

The Democrats may not always be as charismatic as we would like, but compared to the new Republican alternative, they are truly much, much better.

[zjr909]

Let's not forget the real culprits here: the good folks of America, who became convinced by President Reagan's homesy charm that the only good regulation was a dead regulation. Once again, the lessons of history were completely lost on the American people. THERE WAS A REASON WHY ALL THE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS CAME INTO BEING!!!!! And it wasn't because turn-of-the-century liberals decided to clamp down on the "free market"; it was because the market decided it could make bigger profits by cutting corners. Hopefully the people will demand greater oversight; but even if they get it, and things somehow return to "normal," they'll just forget about it all over again in a few years. And the process of poisoning people for fun and profit will begin all over again. Oh well.

[Macready]

I will build the momentum for Speaker Pelosi putting impeachment on the agenda . . .

[drblack]

Will Pelosi actually do anything about this?
The Last Congress and this Congress have betrayed their oath to protect the Constitution by allowing Bush to break the law by overstepping his Constitutional authority.
Let us see if Reid and Pelosi do something..At this point they should resign and let some true American patriots take over.

[GenXLiberal]

Republicans don't really believe in lesser government, just lesser accountability from government. These guys run the government like a racket. Why should any of these assholes get off scott free? Isn't this also about justice too?

[Quaoar]

No sane or competent bureaucrat would ever turn down more money and resources. The only explanation is that George Bush appointed her solely to preside over the castration, dismantling, and ultimate destruction of the CPSC.

What's scary is that this is probably happening to a lot of other agencies performing important regulatory functions and it's getting ignored by the media. Nancy Nord was appointed in 2005. The CPSC has had many problems in the last 2 years. Why are we just hearing about the agency's problems now?

[radlib1]

I had high hopes when Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House (at last, a liberal Democrat and not a corporate, reactionary thug like Rahm Emmanuel or Steny Hoyer!) Then, first thing, she took impeachment off the table. Now, she forces Pete Stark, who spoke the truth about Bush, to apologize to this ignorant m*therfucker for getting us into a war that is costing us about 3 billion dollars a week. I don't expect women to have balls, but I do expect them to stand up to the loathsome bullies we have in this Administration. Stand up for the real Democrats, Ms. Pelosi, or get out of the f*cking way!

You and one of our other California Senators, Dianne Feinstein, have now become ennablers of the Republicans. If you disagree, show me (all I got from Feinstein was an apologia for voting for the racist Judge Southwick -- not enough proof that he was and is a KKK shill).

Do Democrats have to roll over and play dead to prove their patriotism? Show some f*cking guts. Push bills calling for an end to financing the War on Iraq until George the Moron gets it. (He may never get it, but, believe me, the American people will.) They already know that George W. Bush is a prime-time, cowardly asshole. Just keep putting that in the Republicans' faces.

Iraq is a preemptive, Republican War, no two ways about it. The Democrats only fault is going along with these assholes because they don't want to be seen as "soft on terrorism."

Guess what, Sadddam and Iraq had absofuckinglutely nothing to do with 9/11. This war has been fought on the basis of lies and it's about time Bush and his neocon minions are called on it.

[Kansas Evans]

Just 10 minutes ago, I read on Yahoo that Bush said if the Senate didn't confirm Mukasey, they'd be setting a dangerous precedent. Ridiculous.

Then I read that Bush says denying that the country is at war is dangerous. He criticized the Congress of for not passing the emergency war funding bill.

I rushed to HuffPo so I could right a few scorching words, and I came across the article.

Did head of product safety REALLY suggest 1 person testing toys is enough? That's ridiculous even before you consider that they simultaneously have us in some bumper sticker war on terror.

This administration has to filled with the most ideologically driven, least intelligent EVER!! And I'm including the guy who died of pneumonia after giving his inaugral speech in freezing rain.

And we don't know everything!!