Schakowsky Statement In Support Of The Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act

SCHAKOWSKY STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE DANNY KEYSAR CHILD PRODUCT SAFETY NOTIFICATION ACT

"Thank you, Chairman Rush, for holding today's hearing on four important bills that would protect children from needless harm and every day dangers. I am especially grateful that you included my bill, H.R. 1699, the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act — or Danny's Act. As we heard at last month's hearing on children's products, because of lax laws and inadequate protections, dangerous and in fact, deadly products are being made and sold for use by children. It is past due that we give parents the security they deserve and children the safety they need.<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />

The importance of enacting stronger protections cannot be overstated. Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among children, and for every such injury that is fatal, approximately 18 children are hospitalized and 1,250 are treated by emergency departments.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who is with us here today, an average of 61 children under the age of 5 die each year in incidents associated with nursery products. Of 318 consumer products recalled by the CPSC in 2006, 111, or 35%, were items intended for use by or care of children.

My bill, Danny's Act, would help us prevent those needless and preventable injuries and deaths by making the recall of children's products more effective. H.R. 1699 would require that each durable infant and toddler product — high chairs, cribs, and strollers — come with a postage-paid recall registration card. This will allow the manufacturers to directly contact each parent who bought their product should any problem arise that could put their children at risk.

Although there is a shocking number of recalled products, our current recall system is failing. Actual notice of a recall is dependent on news outlets picking up the story and spreading the word. Notification targeted to owners of the products is rare, and many parents remain unaware of dangers even when products are recalled. In fact, many families still have the dangerous products listed in this report in their homes because they have not happened to turn on the television at the right time or read the right newspaper.

My colleague, Rep. Fred Upton, and I named our bill that would help solve this problem the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act because his story is a tragic example of the inadequacy of our current recall practices.

Danny Keysar, the precious 17-month old son of Linda Ginzel and her husband, Boaz Keysar, died when the Playskool Travel-Lite portable crib he had been napping in at his babysitter's home collapsed. The rails of the crib folded into a "V...-shaped wedge when he stood up, trapping his neck. He was strangled to death. It was May 12, 1998, five years after the CPSC had ordered it off the shelves because it was so dangerous.

Word of its hazard had not reached Danny's parents, the caregiver with whom he was staying, or a state safety inspector who visited the home just eight days before Danny's death. Had Danny's Act been in effect, there would have been a much greater chance of saving Danny's life — and the six children who have since died from the Travel-Lite.

We know that while not the "one and only answer,... recall registration cards are a cheap and effective way of getting the word out. My bill is modeled after the <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration's recall system for car seats. Since NHTSA started requiring car seats to have registration cards in 1993, the number of families registering increased by at least tenfold. Recall repair rates have gone up by 56% — all for a mere 43-cents per item. This bill will give families a much greater chance to repair, return, or discard any dangerous products that have made it into their children's nursery.

Finally, I would like to also express my support for my colleagues' bills that are being considered. Mr. Rush's bill, H.R. 2474, would raise the cap on civil penalties for knowingly violating CPSC requirements so that getting caught violating safety requirements could not be written off as the cost of doing business. The Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act, which would extend the requirement of child proof caps to apply to gas cans, could save 1,200 families trips to the emergency room every year. And, the Pool and Spa Safety Act would set a much needed anti-entrapment standard for pool and spa drains sold in the U.S

Mr. Chairman, again, I thank you for today's hearing which helps us change course on children's product safety. Thank you."