Safety agency head faces lawmakers on travel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The embattled head of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Tuesday deflected criticism for trips taken at industry groups' expense, saying she would welcome more congressional funding so the safety agency could pay for its own staff's trips.
Controversy has swirled around the CPSC and its acting chairman, Nancy Nord, amid millions of recent recalls of lead-contaminated toys and products made in China.
At a hearing to discuss a bill that would give the agency more money, staff and clout, lawmakers on a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee questioned Nord about trips she took that were paid for by the Toy Industry Association and other industry groups her agency oversaw.
Rep. Janice Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, read aloud part of an article by the Washington Post, which had revealed the industry-paid trips by Nord and her predecessor.
Asked about a Post report that Nord was asked to recruit attendees for a conference of lawyers who defended manufacturers in product-liability cases, Nord denied receiving the request and said she did not assist the group.
She also denied that the safety agency asked organizers of another conference to pay for a trip for six agency employees.
"There was no such request," Nord said.
She said she was amenable to rule changes to require the agency to pay for needed travel: "That's up to Congress, if Congress wishes to do that and gives us the budget."
Nord said agency heads accepted trips to conferences to search for unsafe products and did so only because the agency has a limited budget that prevents it from footing the bill.
Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, was unconvinced. DeGette said she was "very concerned" about the travel expenses and planned to add language to the bill addressing the issue.
'A WIN FOR CONSUMERS'
Nord also praised legislation that would finance a new laboratory for the agency, increase its annual budget to recover some of the 550-plus staffers lost over the past 27 years, bar the sale of recalled items and increase the penalty for failing to cooperate with the agency.
"On balance, I believe the bill will be a win for consumers," said Nord.
She urged Congress to require companies to certify that their products comply with safety regulations. "It would go such a long way in our ability to more easily flag products that may be in violation of our standards," said Nord.
Nord also repeated the Bush administration's criticism that the legislation would raise civil penalties too high for companies that do not notify regulators about hazardous products. If the maximum penalty is raised to $100 million from the current $1.25 million, as proposed in the bill, the agency's resources would be diverted to court cases instead of testing and recalling products, she said.
"People are not going to sit and work with us, they're going to fight us," she said.
An executive with No. 2 U.S. toy company Hasbro Inc told lawmakers that the company generally supports most of the House's proposed bill.
But Kathrin Belliveau, Hasbro director of product safety and regulatory affairs, said the proposed standard on lead in children's products is too tough.
The House bill, and a similar Senate measure, would virtually ban all lead in children's products, while requiring increased independent safety testing.
Also Tuesday, President George W. Bush proposed tougher inspection rules to keep dangerous food and other products out of the United States.
While many of the recommendations prepared by a special Bush administration panel were directed at food imports, one suggestion called for the CPSC to develop voluntary certification programs based on risk for foreign producers of certain products. The CPSC is responsible for monitoring more than 15,000 types of products such as toys, cribs, humidifiers and cell phone batteries.
