'Disastrous For The Commission And Consumers Alike': Yvette Clarke Slams Proposed CPSC Budget Cut

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During a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) questioned witnesses about the Consumer Product Safety Commission budget, and the need for adequate product safety enforcement measures.

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Transcript

00:00The gentleman yields back. The distinguished lady from the Empire State, Ms. Clark, is recognized.

00:05Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and I thank our Ranking Member Czajkowski for holding this

00:10very important hearing today. I also want to thank all of our commissioners for being here

00:14to testify. And let me also thank our commissioners, led by Chair Hohen Sarek,

00:21for the important work that you all do to protect the American consumer's safety from

00:28defective and dangerous products. A modern, increasingly complex economy like ours can be

00:35a marvel of productivity, producing new technological advances and products that

00:40make the lives of everyday citizens easier, and that innovative spirit must be protected.

00:48At the same time, we must embrace realities of the 21st century environment we live in,

00:53and the current budget proposed for CPSC certainly does not recognize that reality,

01:01as the proposed 6% cut would be disastrous for the Commission and consumers alike.

01:08Unfortunately, our increasingly digital lives can create openings for bad actors to operate

01:14with impunity, and the CPSC stands as our vanguard against that kind of behavior.

01:22A significant cut of this nature would necessitate significant staffing cuts to the CPSC

01:29at a time when e-commerce is flourishing, is growing exponentially, making it easier than ever

01:36for bad and negligent actors to flood our markets with defective products in pursuit of a quick buck.

01:43And this can have major consequences for millions of people. For example, in New York City,

01:50e-mobility solutions like e-bikes and scooters fuel a robust food delivery industry and are

01:58becoming increasingly popular alternatives to automobile traffic, something that should be

02:04viewed as a positive development in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Unfortunately,

02:11due to a flood of faulty lithium-ion batteries, New York City has seen a significant uptick

02:18in fire as a result of these batteries. I was proud to partner with Congressman Richie Torres

02:24and a bipartisan group of New York members on H.R. 1797, the Setting Consumer Standards for

02:30Lithium-ion Batteries Act, which would address these faulty batteries and codify common sense

02:36standards. And while that legislation has moved through this committee and passed the House,

02:40it is unfortunately stalled in the Senate as of now. Chair Cohen-Saric, can you speak to how H.R.

02:491797 would help to combat this spate of fires in New York and other jurisdictions across the

02:56country? And could you also speak more broadly to the challenges posed by the rising utilization of

03:03e-commerce platforms and how the proposed budget cuts might exacerbate those challenges?

03:09And other commissioners are invited to chime in as well. Thank you for the question. The

03:14legislation that you put forward is extremely important. It would cut through the lengthy

03:21process that we often have to go through when we are regulating under our organic statute.

03:27As you pointed out, we have seen nearly 300 fires in the last three years associated with lithium-ion

03:34batteries. And while it hasn't had a dramatic impact on New York, it's hit 40 states. So it is

03:41not just a New York problem. It is one we're seeing across the country as well. And your

03:47legislation would be able to speed the process to getting safe laws because, as you said, a lot of

03:52the batteries that we're seeing are cheaply made knockoffs from overseas coming in from countries

03:59like China. And when those are put with a bike that is a good bike, it can result in fires.

04:06Generally speaking, as you said, the asking about the cuts, the cuts will

04:10dramatically impact us. And as we're looking at the e-commerce side of things, making sure that

04:15we're able to stop those imports coming into the country will become so much harder with fewer

04:22people at the ports, fewer compliance officers, fewer ways to be able to stop the import of those

04:28bad products. Just in closing, because I don't have much time left, I would love to get the rest

04:35of your comments, say that we have to take a real forward look at where we are in our civil society

04:42with respect to the way we consume goods and products. And there's no doubt in my mind, just

04:48looking at certain platforms of e-commerce, we don't even know who these companies are. We're

04:53just buying these items only to find out once we receive them that they can harm us, our families,

05:00our children. And I think that this committee has a responsibility to catch up with the times. This

05:06is the 21st century. We're not going back to the way things used to be. We have to look at how

05:12things are and how they'll be in the future. And you're on the front lines of that. So let me thank

05:16each and every one of you for working under such challenging circumstances. The staffing you need

05:22to be put in place now so that our children and grandchildren are protected and they inherit from

05:27us a more robust board. And you're doing the good work. Thank you. I yield back.

05:34I thank the gentlelady. And I also want to thank the gentlelady from Florida for filling in for me,

05:40but I didn't want her to get too comfortable. All right, folks, next we have the gentlelady

05:48from Arizona, Ms. Latimer.

'Disastrous For The Commission And Consumers Alike': Yvette Clarke Slams Proposed CPSC Budget Cut

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