Sen. Ossoff secured a commitment to ensure families receive timely notification about dangerous product recalls
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is working to protect children and families from defective or dangerous products.
In a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing yesterday, Sen. Ossoff secured a commitment from a key government official to ensure families are promptly notified about product recalls that may put children or families at risk.
“I want next to discuss something that I know is top of mind for every parent in Georgia, and as the father of a six-month-old baby daughter, something that I can relate to intensely, which is the concern about the safety of the products that families buy, whether it’s strollers or cribs, that are under the regulatory purview of the Consumer Product Safety Commission,” Sen. Ossoff said in the hearing. “That concern that a product malfunction, or an error in manufacturing, could lead to the death or serious injury of an infant or young child, it’s every parent’s worst nightmare.”
Sen. Ossoff asked Eugene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, for a commitment to work with him to implement recommendations to make the CPSC system as timely and efficient and effective as possible, “ensuring that no parent has to suffer the loss of an infant baby or a young child because of a preventable defect in a product that never should have hit markets or should have been recalled once it did.”
Comptroller General Dodaro agreed to work with Sen. Ossoff and told him that the Government Accountability Office has identified ways to process product recalls faster and to improve coordination across the government to protect families.
Dodaro also testified that the GAO will continue working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to implement those recommendations to protect families.
Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff’s line of questioning:
Please find a transcript below:
SEN. OSSOFF: “I want next to discuss something that I know is top of mind for every parent in Georgia, and as the father of a six-month-old baby daughter, something that I can relate to intensely, which is the concern about the safety of the products that families buy, whether it’s strollers or cribs, that are under the regulatory purview of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). That concern that a product malfunction, or an error in manufacturing, could lead to the death or serious injury of an infant or young child, it’s every parent’s worst nightmare.
“In recent years, the CPSC has obtained the recall of certain products that pose risks to maternal and infant health. You issued, or the GAO issued, in November 2020, several recommendations for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in terms of the management of case processing, investigative timelines, and how it measures the effectiveness of its recalls. How can we help make the CPSC system as timely and efficient and effective as possible, ensuring that no parent has to suffer the loss of an infant baby or a young child, because of a preventable defect in a product that never should have hit markets or should have been recalled once it did. Will you commit to the people of Georgia and to my office, this Committee, and the Congress, that you’ll follow up with us on the progress of the implementation of those recommendations, please?”
COMPTROLLER GENERAL DODARO: “Absolutely, you have my commitment on that. I’m a grandparent of seven grandchildren, so I share your concern about this. There’s nothing more worrisome than the harm that can occur to an infant or others. We also have an open recommendation to Congress here, to create an entity that can ensure effective coordination across the government and solve jurisdictional issues between areas. Also a high-risk area: we have centers on food safety. Our food safety system is fragmented, and so we’ll brief your staff on those issues as well.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Thank you. Georgia parents will be relieved by that commitment, and I look forward to continuing to work with you. Thanks for your testimony.”
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