Letter to George W. Bush, President of the United States

Letter

Letter to George W. Bush, President of the United States

With Imported Toy Recalls Continuing, DeLauro calls for Quick Action to Ensure Product Safety

Cites Approaching Holiday Season as Added Pressure for Action

As more imported toys contaminated with lead paint are recalled, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) expressed her concern to President George W. Bush in a letter and sought answers to key questions in an effort to strengthen consumer protections. DeLauro also cited concern over the delayed release from mid-September to mid-November of recommendations for specific actions by the Import Safety Working Group.

"Already this year 45 toy recalls have resulted in millions of toys being recalled because of contamination with lead paint," said DeLauro. It is critical that wee act with a sense of urgency to take steps to address this issue such as identifying products before they reach the marketplace and testing children who may have played with contaminated toys for lead exposure.

"With the holiday season approaching, and 80 percent of toys being made in China we cannot afford to simply wait for China to act. This Administration needs to take immediate steps so that harmful products never reach our store shelves. Only then can Americans be reassured that adequate safety protections and procedures are in place."

August 23, 2007

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to express my growing concerns regarding the recent series of defective products manufactured in China and to urge you to take immediate action on behalf of American families and consumers.

Just this week, Martin Designs Inc. announced a recall of 250,000 SpongeBob SquarePants Address Books and Journals because of excessive levels of lead. Mattel, the world's biggest toymaker, recently announced that its latest recall due to lead-based paint contamination of 1.5 million toys has been expanded by approximately 436,000 total—253,000 of which are in the United States. Moreover, in the last few months we have seen the recall of nearly 1 million units of Fisher-Price toys (including popular Elmo, Ernie, and Dora the Explorer figurines) and 1.5 million units of Thomas & Friends trains and accessories—all because of lead paint. To make matters worse, this comes on the heels of the recent tainted pet food and contaminated toothpaste imports from China.

With 45 toy recalls during the first eight months of this year, all involving imports from China, the need for the U.S. government to act and require our trading partners, especially China, and companies that import products to start taking full responsibility for their operations is clear. As such, given all these challenges and the inadequacy of our system, what is your Administration currently doing to ensure that defective products are identified before they reach the marketplace? Furthermore, what steps are you taking to ensure that children who may have played with defective toys are being tested for lead exposure? We need to act with a sense of urgency to restore consumer confidence and prevent potentially harmful toys from making it into the hands of our children. It is our obligation to ensure the safety of all products before they reach consumers.

While I welcome your decision to form an Import Safety Working Group, I am troubled by their announcement to push back the release of their recommendations from September to mid-November. Such action does not demonstrate an understanding of the magnitude of the problem and the need to act without delay.

Mr. President, we can not afford to simply wait for China to take action given that 80 percent of the world's toys are made there, especially with the approaching holiday season. Instead, I ask you to take action when a trading partner clearly violates standards of public safety so that harmful products never reach our store shelves. Only then can Americans be reassured that adequate safety protections and procedures are in place.

Like you, I believe that the safety of children should always be a number one priority. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

Rosa L. DeLauro
Member of Congress

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