To help my wife and several other small businesses who are the subject of the ridiculous interpretation of the new lead testing laws enacted last year, I wrote my two NC Senators. In short, the law passed to basically keep the Chinese from poisoning our kids with lead based paint on toys has been twisted to require testing of components of crafts, clothing, cribs, toys, bikes, etc for any product targeted at anyone under 12 years old. The law's enforcement date got pushed back, but the small business people who were lucky enough to get their products accepted by retail stores were greeted with their products being literally pulled off the shelves, getting shipped back, and being charged back for them. While Congress sits on their collective asses and discusses it, hundreds of thousands of small businesses, many of them home based, went under.
I got the expected bullshit letter from Burr's office, looking into it, blah, blah, blah, but the more disappointing letter came from Hagan's office. See below:
Kay Hagan seems to be more concerned about getting imbedded in Insider DC than carry the torch for those who elected her.
From: senator_reply@hagan.senate.gov [mailto:senator_reply@hagan.senate.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:36 PM
To:
Subject: H.R. 4040 - the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008
June 17, 2009
Dear Friend,
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. I greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts on this important issue.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (H.R. 4040) was introduced in November 2007, passed both the House of Representatives and Senate, and became public law in August 2008. This legislation established consumer product safety standards and requirements for a variety of children's products, and most notably, required third-party product testing for lead. The bill also reauthorized and expanded the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), whose mission is to protect the public from injury or death from consumer products. Although the bill required the CPSC to begin enforcement of the lead testing requirements, on February 10, 2009 the Commission postponed implementation until February 10, 2010 to allow time for clearer guidance on when testing is required and how it will be conducted.
While I support the principle - that products sold in the open marketplace should be safe and free of toxic chemicals - behind the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, I agree with you that the practical application of the law has gone too far. As a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, I believe this bill has created costly and unnecessary requirements for some of North Carolina's businesses. Requiring all manufacturers to have their products lead-tested, as the bill does, creates enormous barriers for small manufacturers and second-hand sellers.
Although I was not a member of the U.S. Senate when the original bill was enacted into law, I am committed to working with my colleagues to find a reasonable solution to this problem. In fact, I have already acted on the matter. During the Senate's debate on the budget resolution (S.Con.Res. 13) in April 2009, I voted for an amendment which would have helped to protect certain businesses from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act's requirements. It would have exempted thrift stores, consignment shops, and other second hand sellers, as well as all-terrain vehicles,from the provisions of the bill. While this amendment was defeated, I can assure you that I will continue to search for ways to protect small businesses in North Carolina.
Again, thank you for contacting my office. It is truly an honor to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate, and I hope you will not hesitate to contact me in the future should you have any further questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Kay R. Hagan
United States Senator, North Carolina
Please do not reply to this email. Instead, if you have further questions, please visit www.hagan.senate.gov and fill out my web form for your inquiry. Thank you.
Now, on the one hand, I was very grateful to get this response, then I realized how conditioned my former useless Senator and other useless Senator had made me - these are my Senators, I shouldn't be grateful they decided to talk to me, I should be mad it took so long. The more I thought about Senator Hagan's response, the madder it made me. Her claim of action is that she voted for some rider buried in another bill? Sorry Senator, that's not the kind of leadership I voted for. You are doing the same on other matters. Get off your ass and lead, stop trying to play the game and instead of "working with you colleagues" on matters important to your constituents and all those who helped put you into office, grab the sword in hand and lead that bunch of equivocating do-nothings to make the changes we expect from you. We don't want votes, we want change. My response to the Senator is listed below:
How about re-introducing what was defeated? I don’t think you understand the urgency here. Even though the effective date got delayed, the "top of the food chain" which is the large retailers are already enforcing it because they believe that it will eventually be in effect. Small businesses by the dozens literally had their products removed from shelves, sent back to them at their expense, and got charged back. While you folks in DC sit and argue about it, firms close daily due to the inaction. While we all appreciate the effort, we didn’t elect you for effort, we elected you for results. Go find a way to drive this thing through – it is causing the literal death of hundreds of small businesses and even charitable organizations (like ones that give away used trikes for disadvantaged kids – they have to be lead tested now).
I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but the one measurement you aren’t considering is time. You may win this eventually, but there won’t be any small businesses left to help you celebrate. Get more aggressive and get it done – your constituents are depending on you, not that bonehead Richard Burr, who gave this whole issue an amazing brush off (he’s suddenly for government intervention in this case – hypocrite).
You are our only hope in NC here. Time is a killer in this case. Trying isn’t enough, we need to get it done and now. Sorry to seem brusque, but nobody can get anything done about this, and yet they all know about it. Don’t make it some backdoor rider, make it a bill on its own.
Now, she is doing the same re Healthcare. Blue Cross is a big, big player in NC, and the healthcare industry is huge here. She needs to hear more than from North Carolinians. Let her hear you all. There are a lot of uninsured and underinsured people here, many that find out Blue Cross won't cover them after it's too late.
Come on Kay, before you get sucked into the game that is DC. Stand up and fight for the people with the least influence, the least money, and the most need.