[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 20 (Thursday, February 4, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E144-E145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    DEVOTED EMPLOYEES SAVINGS LIVES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES T. WALSH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 4, 1999

  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, on Christmas Day, the New York Times ran a 
wonderful article that tells a story about the careful and thoughtful 
work of a cadre of employees at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety 
Commission (CPSC) who test toys to ensure they do not injure or kill 
children. One CPSC employee, Bob Hundemer, who works in CPSC's 
engineering laboratory, calls his toy testing work a ``labor of love.'' 
The article goes on to describe

[[Page E145]]

some of the testing methods used to determine if certain toys are risks 
to children. The article quotes Robert Garrett, acting director of the 
lab: ``I walk out of here every day thinking we're made the world a 
better place,'' adding, ``I am not sure every government agency can say 
that.''
  As the new Chairman of the VA-HUD Independent Agency Appropriations 
Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the CPSC, I am delighted to 
read about Federal employees who are so devoted to the mission of their 
agency.
  I commend this article to my colleagues.

              [From the New York Times, December 25, 1998]

          In Paradise of Toys, the Game Plan Is To Save Lives

       Washington, Dec. 24.--In the Washington suburb of 
     Gaithersburg, Md., far from the intrigue of the capital and 
     even farther from the North Pole, employees of the Consumer 
     Product Safety Commission test toys of every description for 
     dangers and defects.
       Bob Hundemer, an engineering technician, has tested toys at 
     the agency for two decades. He has cultivated a scrupulous 
     and unforgiving eye for potential hazards and quickly detects 
     whether a toy is up to standard--whether it is safe as well 
     as inviting beneath the Christmas tree.
       ``This is a killer,'' Mr. Hundemer said, pointing to a 
     fluorescent yellow rattle with an unusually thin stem and 
     tiny ball at the tip. ``The end could get jammed in a baby's 
     mouth so easily and cause choking.''
       Mr. Hundemer's office is a 5-year-old's paradise. A 
     bookcase overflowing with brightly colored tops, dolls, toy 
     cars, and jacks-in-the-box covers the back wall. A sign 
     reading ``Caution: Adults at Play'' adorns his door.
       Robert Garrett, the acting director of the engineering 
     laboratory, said: ``After years in the private sector, I 
     realized that I could get a job with the Government doing 
     about the same thing. I thought I'd died and gone to 
     heaven.''
       At the annual Toy Fair in February, giant manufacturers 
     like Mattel and Hasbro, as well as small toy companies from 
     around the country, gather in New York City to display their 
     wares. Representatives from the commission attend the show 
     and examine all the new toys. They discuss potential problems 
     with the manufacturers and then work with them to insure that 
     potential hazards are eliminated.
       ``The big retailers don't want to recall their products,'' 
     said Kathleen P. Begala, the commission's director of public 
     affairs. ``With mailings and bad press, it's a very expensive 
     process for them, and so there is an incentive to cooperate 
     with us.''
       Mindful that injuries kill more children than any 
     illnesses, the agency, which has requested just over $57 
     million for its 2000 budget, performs four tests on toys it 
     reviews.
       One, the template test, examines small parts of a toy that 
     could catch in a child's throat and affect breathing. Mr. 
     Hundemer uses a truncated cylinder that represents an average 
     child's mouth and throat. Any piece of a toy that fits into 
     the cylinder is considered dangerous.
       The sharp-edge test uses a special tape to indicate whether 
     any side of an object could cut the skin.
       The force test determines how easily parts of the stuffed 
     animals, like eyes and noses, can be removed from the toy. 
     Mr. Hundemer users an instrument that resembles pliers to 
     grasp the eye of a stuffed toy, for example, and applies 15 
     pounds of pressure, about the strength of a 2-year-old. He 
     tries to rip off the part for about 20 seconds.
       In the impact test, a toy is dropped four and a half feet 
     to test durability. ``We use something pretty cheap,'' Mr. 
     Hundemer said. ``It's called gravity.'' If pieces of the toy 
     break off, and the shards of plastic fail the template test, 
     the toy is considered not safe.
       The commission officially approves toys that survive the 
     tests.
       Like veterans telling war stories, Ms. Begala and Mr. 
     Hundemer recalled some of the most troublesome toys. They 
     remembered the Cabbage Patch doll accused of ``eating'' a 
     child's hair, the Chinese slap bracelets made with cloth and 
     sharp metal that could cut a child and Woody, the cowboy with 
     plastic spurs that had sharp edges and a small plastic badge.
       Mr. Hundemer added that this year's hot toy, the Furby, was 
     safe.
       ``People shopping for toys need to be sure that toys do not 
     contain parts smaller than their child's fist,'' Mr. Hundemer 
     said.
       Mr. Garrett mused happily on his career.
       ``I walk out of here every day thinking we've made the 
     world a better place,'' he said.
       Then, pausing, he added, ``I am not sure every government 
     agency can say that.''

     

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