What's New with Charlie Fighting for Our Children
Posted: November 24, 2009, 8:57 AM
Two years ago, I led the charge in Florida to put tougher regulations on toy manufactures. I, along with every parent in this state, was fed up with the millions of toys being recalled on a daily basis. Those toys, laced with harmful chemicals and made with hazardous parts, put countless children at risk and affected millions of families; not to mention the significant hit to consumer confidence that had a ripple affect across our economy.
While we have made significant progress in creating tougher standards dealing with lead and other harmful chemicals in our toys, more has got to be done. This year alone, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency charged with enforcing all regulations for toy safety, recalled over 1.3 million toys and other children’s products for violations of the lead paint standard. Even with these recalls, PIRG still found a number of toys on the shelf that exceeded the lead standard.
This raises several points that we, as policy makers and parents need to be aware of. As policy makers, we must ensure that the consumer product safety commission remains fully funded. It is a small agency with a very big job to do, and without continued funding, all of our hard work at the legislative level will be for nothing. We need to continue to educate parents as to what chemicals may be harmful and provide them with the tools to make informed choices. As parents, we need to remain vigilant and aware of information, such as the kind supplied here by the Florid PIRG. There is nothing more important than ensuring our children’s safety.
We have made great strides, but there is always more that can be done. I will continue to fight for this issue until all of the unsafe toys are off our shelves and parents can say they are 100 percent confident in the products they are buying their children.
No one should have to tell their kids "buyer beware"
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