PBS "Newshour with Jim Lehrer" -Transcript

Interview

PBS "Newshour with Jim Lehrer" -Transcript

RAY SUAREZ: Now, protecting consumers from faulty products. Jeffrey Brown has that.

MR. BROWN: The spate of product recalls in recent months -- many on items made in China -- has increased scrutiny on the agency charged with protecting consumers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This week, a Senate panel approved measures to give the commission more resources and new power. The House is working on similar legislation. But the commission is saying "Thanks, but no thanks," rejecting many of the new proposals.

In a separate development, The Washington Post reported today that industries regulated by the commission have paid for travel -- nearly 30 trips in all -- by current Commission Chair Nancy Nord and her predecessor, Hal Stratton.

We explore all this now, beginning with Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat from Colorado, and vice chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Well, Congresswoman DeGette, first, define the problem that you see at the commission.

REP. DEGETTE: Well, the problem with the Consumer Product Safety Commission -- they were formed in the 1970s. They had 800 employees and a robust budget. And in the years since then, our economy has changed drastically, so we have toys coming in from China, many, many more imports. And many of those imports, like children's toys, are contaminated with lead.

At the same time, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's number of employees has dropped almost by 50 percent, and in real dollars, their budget has shrunk, too. For example, even though toy recalls -- mostly due to lead -- increased dramatically in the last five years, the CPSC has only one toy inspector for the entire agency.

And so many of us -- Senator Pryor, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and myself -- have introduced legislation both beefing up the powers of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and also giving them more funding, the funding they desperately need given the shifting market.

MR. BROWN: Are you suggesting that it is a question of resources, or is there also the implication that the will is not there?

REP. DEGETTE: Well, clearly in the statements of Chairman Nord this last couple of weeks -- we are deeply disturbed by the fact that she has said that she doesn't think her agency needs any more resources. You've got more products coming in from overseas. You've got a huge spike in recalls, which is very concerning because, of course, only a fraction of those people who bought the products will return them. And you have the head of the agency saying, "Oh, well, this is no big deal, and we don't want the money." So a number of us, starting with Speaker Pelosi, have called for her resignation.

MR. BROWN: Do you believe generally that products are less safe today? And if so, why? What's the culprit?

REP. DEGETTE: Well, I think that there is a greater risk -- for example, lead in children's toys -- than there may have been because of shifts in the market. In the 1970s, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission was formed, most of the toys were produced domestically. Now they're coming in from China and other places in the world, and they have unacceptably high lead levels. Just this last week we had a recall for Halloween vampire teeth which children were using.

This is one thing the parents of America really think, that the federal government should be keeping their children safe from these contaminated products. I think a large culprit is the nature of the markets and where we're getting our products from, and also the fact that we have, certainly in the last five or six years, really reduced our diligence in overseeing the manufacturers and what they're doing.

MR. BROWN: One view of this, though, because we've discussed this on our program before with some of these recalls, is that the fact that the recalls are taking place suggests that the system, in a sense, is working.

REP. DEGETTE: Actually, that's not true because you hate to have a recall. When these toys are recalled, what that's showing is the manufacturer has found contamination after the toys were disseminated on the market. And once you have a recall like this, a very small percentage of the products actually come back. I think it's less than 10 percent.

So, for example, the vampire teeth, which have been contaminated by lead, there are still millions of sets of those teeth out there. What you really want to do is have robust enforcement and tracking systems so that the contamination is found before the product gets on the market and has to be recalled.

MR. BROWN: So you mentioned some of the changes that you'd like to push forward. Tell us more. What specific changes do you think need to be made that you're pushing in Congress right now?

REP. DEGETTE: Well, the bill that Congresswoman DeLauro and I have sponsored, the SAFE Act, has a number of positions, including banning lead in children's toys, giving mandatory recall authority to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, direct mandatory recall authority. We believe that would not only help get the products back, but it would also cause the manufacturers to pay a lot more attention before it comes out. We establish a tracking system so you can track where these products go. And we beef up the civil and criminal penalties, and we also increase resources to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

MR. BROWN: And let me, just to move to the other side, the other thing we reported and the Washington Post reported today that we cited, was the story of the travel. What is your response to that?

REP. DEGETTE: I am -- I'm appalled by these revelations of travel. And I should note that Commissioner Nord's predecessor, Ann Brown, never traveled on these gift travel trips by the industry. That is a blatant conflict of interest, to have the commissioner traveling at the -- on the -- really the dole of the manufacturers.

And at the same time the recalls have gone up so much, the commissioner herself has taken 30 trips. In Congress, we've banned this kind of thing because it's an apparent and a real conflict of interest. I think that's even more reason why she should step down, frankly.

MR. BROWN: And finally, let me just ask you, looking forward here, do you see any -- what are the prospects of getting some legislation passed?

REP. DEGETTE: I think, given the recent disturbing spike in recalls, I think the prospects for legislation are good. Last week, the Senate committee passed Senator Pryor's bill. Next week, my committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, is taking up legislation introduced yesterday by the committee. And we will also be considering some of the provisions in Congresswoman DeLauro's and my bill. Of note, I do intend to introduce an amendment next week in our committee markup to ban this kind of privately funded travel by the agency.

MR. BROWN: All right. Congresswoman Diana DeGette, thank you very much.

REP. DEGETTE: It's great being with you.

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