Wow - more eating of words (the toxic toy issue)

Everything I ever said about our congressman not paying enough attention to his constituents - I take it back. Not only did I receive this email last week, this morning I received the following mass email from him:

Dear Friends,

No parent should have to worry that the toys they put under the tree for their kids are unsafe. Like many parents, I am very concerned about the 25 million toys recalled this year. With the United States importing 80% of its toys from China, I believe we need to take greater measures to protect our families from unsafe products.

Several pieces of legislation moving through the House right now will address these issues – strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission, banning products with lead beyond very minute levels, and third party testing and tracking for children’s products.

As Congress takes up these bills, I want to hear what your thoughts are. Please take a moment to answer the short survey below and tell me how I can better represent you in Washington.

Sincerely,
[Congressman's Signature]

Of course I took the survey. Here are the responses as of this morning:

There was also a place to leave comments, which of course I did - some comments about product testing and a thank you for his attention.

I'm so used to being ignored by our representatives in Washington that I almost don't even know how to react to this. He has heard feedback and wants to do something about it? He wants to understand what the people of his district think? This is how it's supposed to work! Stunning.

More on the toxic toys - eating my words

Wow. You may remember that I wrote to both senators and our congressman (all three of whom I voted for - yes, I feel that I need to point that out every time) and was disappointed that I only received a form-letter-ish response from one senator. Well, today I received an email from our congressman that might be an actual personal response. I'm impressed. Here it is:

Dear Jennifer:

Thank you for contacting me about product safety. I appreciate hearing from you.

As the father of two boys, I am very concerned about the recent recalls of children's toys, pet food, and other goods from China . In 2007, the United States imported $288 billion worth of goods from China . While the vast majority of these goods are safe, the recent recalls highlight the need for improved product safety standards.

Several pieces of legislation moving through the House right now will address these issues - strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission, banning products with lead beyond very minute levels, and third party testing and tracking for children's products. As Congress takes up these bills, I will continue to push for stronger measures to protect consumers from unsafe products.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to be in touch with additional comments or concerns. I also encourage you to visit my website, [url for his website], where you can find updated information, sign up to receive my e-newsletter, and send me e-mail.

I'm liking him again now. I know; I'm easy.

More on the toxic toy issue

First I want to apologize from my recent lack of posts. I've been afflicted with a post-turkey malaise. Now, though the tryptophan has worn off, our tree is up and we've started our Christmas shopping. I'm back.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the Consumer Union's campaign to improve toy safety. I also sent emails to both senators and our representative (all three whom I voted for and all who ignored my previous messages about the I-171H). This time I did get a response from one (the one who I like best, by the way). Here's his response:
~~~

Dear [My Name],

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about the inspection and safety of imported products, particularly those from China. I appreciate hearing from you.

I share the concerns I have heard from many [people of our state] about the safety and quality of imported food and products. These concerns were highlighted recently by contaminated wheat gluten that has been found to be responsible for the sickness and death of thousands of pets across the U.S. and by the recall of Chinese-made toys that were contaminated with lead paint or otherwise found to be unsafe.

I supported an amendment offered by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to S. 1082, the Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2007. The amendment would establish an early warning surveillance system for pet illness; require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to improve its data collection and reporting requirements for firms that find adulterations in food products; and encourage the Secretary to enter into memorandums of understanding with high risk trading partners and commit to working in the future on improving Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ability to regulate imports. The Senate passed this amendment on May 2, 2007, by a vote of 94-0.

I also joined Senator Durbin and several of my colleagues in sending a letter to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Ranking Member Richard Bennett (R-UT) in support of adequate funding for the FDA's food inspection services, particularly the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, in the fiscal year 2008 Department of Agriculture appropriations bill.

You may be aware that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is responsible for ensuring the safety of imported consumer products, including toys. In July 2007, Thomas Moore, Commissioner of the CPSC, released a statement stating that budget cuts have limited the CPSC's ability to carry out its mission and recommending that Congress reject the Administration's budget cuts proposed for fiscal year 2008.

I will closely monitor funding for food and product inspection when the Senate considers fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills for the FDA and CPSC. In addition, several legislative proposals have been introduced to address inadequacies in the current inspection system, and I will keep your thoughts in mind should any such legislation come before the full Senate. On September 12, 2007, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on CPSC funding and the recent recalls of toys. If you are interested in more information about this hearing, I encourage you to visit <http://appropriations.senate.gov/hearings.cfm>.

Thanks again for contacting me. I look forward to hearing from you in the future about this or any other matter of concern to you.

Sincerely,
[Our Senator's Name]
United States Senator

~~~
It seems like a form letter - but, of course, what I sent him was also a form letter and I'm sure that senators cannot personally respond to every concerned citizen who writes to them. Overall, I'm pleased that I received a response.

I've also read some of the testimony on the senate appropriations site (link in the senator's email above). It's pretty interesting. If you read just one, this would be a good choice - it's Senator Durbin's opening statement from the CPSC hearing.

Dangerous toys

This afternoon I received the following email from Consumer Reports magazine:
~~~

Dear Jennifer,

Consumer Reports testers just identified high levels of lead in a toy blood pressure cuff, part of a Fisher-Price kid's "medical kit."

Every week, stores pull more toys off the shelves for excessive lead: toy garden tools, toy boats, Sesame Street's Elmo, Dora the Explorer, Winnie-the-Pooh play sets and more!

Holiday shopping starts soon, yet we have a long way to go before we can trust the safety of the items we want to buy for our friends and family.

Send a message urging your members of Congress to hold manufacturers, importers and retailers accountable for the safety of their products.

More than 20 million toys have been recalled this year, alone! More dangerous, imported products may be sitting on store shelves. Worse yet, in our homes. Come this holiday season, will unsafe toys be caught before they are bought?

Too long, we have relied primarily on recalls to get dangerous products off the market, but shouldn't corporations make sure the toys they manufacture overseas are safe before they arrive in our local stores?

Click here to join us in sending a message urging Congress to keep Americans safe this holiday season.

Once you've sent your letter, please forward this email to your friends and family and ask them to join you and thousands of others!

Thank you for your help in protecting consumers from these dangerous products.

Sincerely,

Jim Guest
President Consumers Union of the U.S.
101 Truman Ave.
Yonkers, NY 10703

~~~
Please take a moment to support this very important cause. If you don't want to write your own letter, there is a form at http://www.notinmycart.org/ that you can use to send a standard letter to your representatives in Congress.

Thank you!!!

That'll teach me to read the newspaper

Two weekends ago we were in IL visiting family and I happened to read the Sunday Chicago Tribune. There was an article on the front page of the business section that caught my eye -- A family tries 12 months without 'Made in China'

At first I thought it was a pro-American kind of thing, reduce the trade deficit, etc. That part all sounded pretty good; we should all be concerned about the trade deficit. Then I read the article. They aren't about addressing the trade deficit - Legos from Denmark and expensive Italian shoes are apparently ok, only Chinese goods are forbidden. European good, Asian bad. Racist much?

I also totally discounted the whole experiment when I read that they didn't realize that Hong Kong is part of China.

Read the article. Let me know if it rubs you wrong too.