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This is a very significant piece of legislation
The Wall Street Journal yesterday
Said it's the most significant piece
of consumer-friendly legislation in a generation
and I think it is as well
and I know the Senate has tried for years to do something
about the Consumer Product Safety Commission
but there was never a sense of urgency
and then earlier this year when Senator Inouye
asked me to chair the consumer subcommittee
I told everybody I wanted to do this
the CPSC reauthorization to be my number one goal
for the subcommittee and in the meantime
of course we've seen a record number of recalls
especially in the toy area
but not limited to the toy area
We're seeing products flood into this country
from overseas
that do not meet U.S. safety standards
We're seeing kids choke
we're seeing exposure to lead
We're seeing a crisis here
and this agency is completely overwhelmed
just completely overwhelmed
they're - they just cannot keep pace
with today's marketplace
My name is Shelby Esis my son Jacob - we call him Jack
he ingested Aqua Dots on October 30th of last year
He was playing in his sister's room
and he came stumbling out into the living room
and looked really lethargic my husband picked him up
and my son was completely ept
he then started throwing up
and I saw there was Aqua Dots in his vomit
so we decided to put him in the car and take him to the nearest clinic
I finally got some information on the ingredients
from the Aqua Dots company
I sent it to Arkansas Childrens Hospital
and the next day it came back that
what had happened to my son was that
one of the ingredients in the Aqua Dots metabolize
into GHB in the body
GHB is also known as the date *** drug
Do you really want this to happen to one of your kids
before you realize how important it is
it's awful, it's a terrifying experience
It was awful for my son it was awful for my family
We all recognize that accidents happen
and we all know that occasionally
there's a mistake made
But it's not an accident when manufacturers use lead paint
because it's cheaper
It's not an accident when a parent has a problem with a toy
and their child
and they call the manufacturer and they cannot get any information
It's not an accident when
a recall takes months and months
and in some cases years
to be accomplished
Those aren't accidents and those are things we can address
as United States Congress and those are things we can fix
This is a great, great piece of legislation
In fact when you look at the
Consumer Product Safety Commission
which Senator Durbin says really is a great agency
that does great things
but when you look today
at the Consumer Product Safety Commission
it's a little bit like looking at an old house
and what we're trying to do
is take that fixer-upper
and make it better than ever
and this has been a very bipartisan effort
all the way through
and now with the Speaker's help
and with the Leader's help
on the Democratic side here in the Senate
there were a lot of Senators and Congressman
and a lot of outside people
all working together
The American people need to understand that help is on the way
Thank you