[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 120 (Tuesday, August 2, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING GREATER AUTHORITY AND DISCRETION TO CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 
                               COMMISSION

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                               speech of

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, August 1, 2011

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2715, a bill 
which places profits ahead of public health; especially the health of 
children. Though some flexibility in the Consumer Product Safety 
Improvement Act's implementation is warranted, this bill goes too far.
  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, and 
the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, there is no safe level of 
exposure to lead. Even the most minute exposures, including so-called 
``trace'' amounts, have enduring health effects. Lead has many of the 
same chemical properties as calcium, which is why the body takes it up 
and deposits in the brain and in bone. However, once lead enters the 
brain, it doesn't leave. Commonly seen health effects of lead exposure 
include delays in neurological and physical development, learning 
disabilities, hyperactivity, lower IQ, hearing loss, reduced attention 
span, and extremely aggressive behavior. A growing body of research 
links criminal activity to exposure to lead, which stands to reason 
given this list of effects.
  This bill provides industry with several exemptions from the law and 
enhances its ability to self-regulate, an approach that has already 
proven to fail to protect public health. First, the bill exempts all 
products from the lead standards contained in the Consumer Product 
Safety Improvement Act except children's products. Though children are 
disproportionately susceptible to lead exposure, it is a disproven myth 
that adults are not susceptible. Adults suffer many of the same effects 
which are harder to detect because there are no programs to test blood 
lead levels, BLL, in adults.
  This bill sets forth a series of harmless-sounding criteria to be 
used to grant specific exemptions that facilitate exposure to lead. If 
a company decides it wants to manufacture a product that can only be 
made with dangerous amounts of lead, that is now perfectly acceptable. 
In exchange, that company would need to show that the product is 
unlikely to be eaten, even though most lead exposure actually occurs 
through habitual hand-to-mouth activity after hands come into unwitting 
contact with the vast array of consumer products that contain lead. 
That company would also need to show that blood lead levels--of 
children only--would not be affected. That is not a difficult hurdle 
since blood only remains in the body for about two weeks before it is 
expelled or taken up into the brain or bone, where it is nearly 
impossible to detect.
  This bill also gives manufacturers the ability to initiate a petition 
to exempt their products, without any way to prevent the well-worn 
tactic of applying for so many exemptions, and submitting so much 
information, much of which is meaningless, that the agency is 
effectively paralyzed with work. Worse, the bill allows the CPSC to 
make decisions about exemptions based solely on information submitted 
by the manufacturer. It is an inherent conflict of interest to turn 
over the burden of proof of harm to the company that stands to profit 
handsomely if no harm is proven. Citizens, advocates, and the CPSC do 
not have the resources to be able to generate enough information 
arguing against exemptions to match the volume of applications and 
information the manufacturers will put out. Chemical companies have 
been using this tactic for decades to push toxic chemicals through the 
approval process.
  The bill also contains blanket exemptions for narrow interests like 
off-road vehicles, bicycles, books, and magazines, even though the 
products are meant for children and most Americans would be surprised 
to learn that they contain lead at all.
  There is a balance to be struck between unnecessarily burdensome 
regulations and protection of public health. This bill fails to strike 
that balance.

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