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

3 months ago

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.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

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

Category

Transcript

Recommended