Washington, D.C. - Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) wrote today to Acting Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Ann Marie Buerkle to reassume the Committee’s traditional role of oversight over the Commission.
The CPSC is tasked with overseeing more than 15,000 consumer goods, which include most of the products in the homes of every American that could potentially harm them or their children. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. Under the Trump Administration, the CPSC has taken several actions that raise questions about its commitment to protecting consumers. The Commission failed to alert parents about the specific inclined sleeper products that have caused infant deaths and also did not adequately respond to long-known deadly dangers of certain IKEA dressers. Pallone and Schakowsky believe the Commission should exercise the full extent of its authority to protect consumers from hazardous and defective products.
“It is our intention to work collaboratively with you, your fellow commissioners, and the hardworking employees of the CPSC to advance the goal of protecting consumers from the risks of injury or death associated with consumer products," Pallone and Schakowsky wrote. “To that end, it is incumbent upon the Committee’s leadership and its members to oversee and ensure the CPSC is in fact fulfilling its mission. We ask that the CPSC update the Committee with information detailing its current workload, the work of its offices, and its interactions with the public through its handling of consumer complaints and Freedom of Information Act requests."
Pallone and Schakowsky requested a complete written response to their questions from the CPSC no later than March 22, 2019.
