Children's Product Safety
One of my key achievements since coming to Congress was the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which became law in 2008. CPSIA represents the most significant improvement in children's product safety and support for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in decades. The law included my provisions to require safety standards and pre-market testing for durable children's products, including cribs, playpens and high chairs, and to ensure children's products come with a postage-paid recall registration card so consumers can be notified by the manufacturer should a problem arise. It also banned lead and dangerous phthalates in children's toys. Through its authority under CPSIA, the CPSC banned dangerous drop-side cribs, which have been linked to more than 30 infant deaths. After years of crib recalls, reports of deaths in unsafe cribs and heel-dragging by the industry, I worked with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Kids in Danger to get recalled cribs off store shelves and out of homes. The CPSIA is now law, and I remain committed to overseeing its strong implementation and to looking for further opportunities to improve the safety of toys and other children's products.
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We need commonsense gun safety legislation to address America’s gun violence epidemic. Last week, I joined Vice President Kamala Harris, Moms Demand Action, and other gun safety advocates at Everytown for Gun Safety’s annual conference to demand greater action on gun control. Gun safety laws are vital to saving lives in our community and nationwide, and I am so thankful to the advocates in my district who are helping lead the charge. The conference took place the same day that Illinois’ Supreme Court upheld our ban on the sale of assault weapons. I am proud of my home state.
Last week, Republican chaos resulted in an early start to the August work period, leaving 11 appropriations bills to be discussed when we get back to Washington next month. To pass the budget on time, all these bills must be signed into law by the end of September. Unfortunately, many of my Republican colleagues would rather facilitate a government shutdown than support pragmatic policies in these must-pass bills.
Following the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, I know many of you are feeling uneasy. I want to assure you, there is a piece of legislation that I am cosponsoring, the Secure Viable Banking Act, that would help restore needed protections to safeguard our economy. The failure of Silicon Valley Bank can be traced back to harmful Trump-era regulatory rollbacks. I voted against those rollbacks in 2018 for exactly this reason. I will continue working to protect the safety and soundness of our financial system and help ensure those responsible for this crisis are held accountable.
The latest safety report from Kids In Danger is a wakeup call – deaths and injuries are taking place before and after recalls. Section 6(b) prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from taking swift action without the company’s permission. Simply put, it protects companies over kids. We must get rid of Section 6(b).