[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16220]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             PROTECTING OUR KIDS FROM CONTAMINATED PRODUCTS

  (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission and toy company RC2 announced a recall of 1.5 million Thomas 
& Friends railway toys because they might contain dangerous amounts of 
lead.
  Lead poisoning causes vomiting and diarrhea, convulsions, anemia, a 
loss of appetite, abdominal pain, irritability, fatigue and coma. It 
can even be fatal.
  The toys were made in China and were retailed throughout the United 
States. First, it was pet food, then toothpaste, now Thomas the Tank 
Engine. Just about every family with kids in my district has a Thomas 
the Tank Engine.
  We need to send a clear notice to importers that goods that threaten 
the safety of kids should be left on America's docks.
  That's why I'm introducing legislation this week that prohibits the 
importation of any product from an importer of processed food or retail 
goods that the Secretary of Health and Human Services has determined 
contains unsafe levels of contaminants.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to do this to defend America's families, 
especially its children.

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