Rally Clip: Senator Jim DeMint (SC)

DeMint Amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution

SUPPORT THE DEMINT AMENDMENT TO THE SENATE BUDGET RESOLUTION

Senator DeMint will offer an amendment to the budget resolution to create a deficit-neutral reserve fund to protect small and home businesses from the burdensome and impractical requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008.

The CPSIA has caused many small and home businesses to unnecessarily increase the costs of their products without providing substantial improvement in product safety.   The legislation was drafted so broadly that it swept up small and family businesses that were never part of the problem.  The law imposes burdensome testing requirements when more common-sense approaches could guarantee the same level of safety.   Congress should have done better and it can do better.

The amendment that Senator DeMint will offer would:

• Delay the lead limits 6 months.
  • Congress and American businesses need breathing room so that we can fix this act.

• Exempt thrift stores and other second hand sellers
  • The Goodwill and the Salvation Army have never been a safety problem and in these hard economic times people need access to affordable goods now more than ever.

• Exempt the sale of books and children’s motorcycles from the CPSIA.
  
  • Books and bikes were never the problem.  These two products are the perfect example of the law of unintended consequences.

• Allows manufacturers to show that their products are within the lead limits by showing that all the components of their products are within the lead limit.
  • Lead doesn’t come out of thin-air! If it’s not in the component it won’t be in the product.   This is a common-sense approach that will save businesses thousands of dollars without compromising safety one bit.

• Prevents retroactive enforcement that would require otherwise safe products from having to be destroyed.
  • There are hundreds of millions of dollars of safe products on the shelves and in warehouses today that should be sold.  It is senseless to make businesses destroy perfectly good products.

These reforms will go a long way to fixing the CPSIA.  It’s also important to outline what this amendment won’t do.

The amendment will not change the lead limits in the Act.  The amendment would keep the same lead limits in place in the bill and require that the overwhelming majority of all children’s product sold in the U.S. – except the few exempted above – meet the stringent new standards in the CPSIA.   This is crucial.  Children will not be exposed to any higher levels of lead because of my amendment.  The only change will be a reform of the bureaucratic hoops that small and home businesses have to jump through.

If you have any questions about the amendment please do not hesitate to contact Tom Jones (tom_jones AT commerce DOT senate DOT gov) with Senator DeMint at 202-224-6121.