Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Markup Opening Statement: H.R. 4040 and H.R. 1216
WASHINGTON, DC,
Nov 15, 2007 -
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and I thank the Chairman of the full committee who is exactly right, this will be recorded as a bright spot in the work of this committee this year. I want to thank Ranking Member Stearns for bringing the bill to this committee.
I am a cosponsor of the bill, and I would like to commend the leadership of this committee for the true bipartisan undertaking of H.R. 4040. I thank you for your commitment to not only the Members of this Subcommittee but also to the citizens of this country that rely upon this subcommittee, and the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the consumer product industry, to keep their families safe from unreasonable dangers imposed by consumer products.
Mr. Chairman, I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. This Committee has some of the best and brightest minds on both sides of the dais. There is more intellectual firepower on this committee than on any other committee in the free world. When this Committee acts in a true bipartisan spirit, we are able to write meaningful legislation that will have a significant and positive impact on this country. I believe we will have a similar result with this important legislation today.
From the introduction of this bill, Chairman Rush and Ranking Member Stearns have called on Members of this Subcommittee to offer amendments to better enhance the bill. Today, I will offer two amendments that will improve the bill. The first amendment would enhance the authority of the Commission to refuse admission of contaminated imported consumer products, to refuse their admission into this country. While I fully believe that the Commission needs this authority, I will withdraw the amendment because there are some trade and customs issues that need to be worked out, and I want to make certain that we get this crucial amendment right. I’m going to continue to work on this issue and will offer the amendment again at the full committee markup.
The second amendment that I plan to offer will be also offered on the other side of the aisle by Ms. Schakowsky. This amendment will bring forth increased awareness and education to retailers of second-hand products about consumer product recalls.
I will expand upon both amendments during their introduction.
Again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for holding this markup. I would be remiss if I also did not thank the Consumer Product Safety Commission for their dedication to this bill and the help that they have provided, the technical assistance and constructive criticism to my office, working on these amendments and during the time of working on this bill. And I yield back the balance of my time.
Thank you, and I yield back the remainder of my time.
