• news from the prairie

    Senator Durbin On Toy Safety: "It Might Just Be A Good Christmas For Books Or Movies"

    Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which recently held hearings about the state of toy safety in the U.S. What did Sen. Durbin take away from those hearings? More »

    9:10 PM on Mon Nov 26 2007
    By Meg Marco
    1,044 views, 6 comments

  • news from the swamp

    Liveblogging the Senate Commerce Committee Hearing On CPSC Reform

    Starting today at 2:30, the Senate Commerce Committee will take up S. 2045, the CPSC Reform Act of 2007. Beyond reauthorizing the Consumer Product Safety Commission for the next seven years, the Act would:

    • Boost the CPSC budget from $62 million to $147 million by 2015;
    • Add 80 new staffers;
    • Repair the CPSC's decrepit inspection facilities;
    • Fund a full slate of 5 Commissioners;
    • Increase civil penalties from $8,000 per violation to $250,000;
    • Increase the maximum penalty for a series of violations from $1.8 million to a staggering $100 million;

    Both CPSC Commissioners are expected to testify, along with a slate of interest groups like U.S. PIRG, Consumer Federation of America, Safe Kids Worldwide, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the oddly named Global Supply Chain Policy Retail Industry Leaders Association.

    Keep hitting refresh as we watch Congress go Scrooge McDuck and dive into the unlimited tower of gold.
    (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

    2:34: Hey, Commerce Committee. Your official webcast link has gone Strom on us. Please fix!
    2:39: Ok, it's not video, but we have an audio link that will suffice for the moment. Grrr, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is underwhelming us with their technology. C-SPAN3 had promised to cover the hearing, but something about Iraq is apparently more important than toys.
    More »

    Feature

    2:09 PM on Thu Oct 4 2007
    By Carey Alexander
    2,137 views, 3 comments

    Latest by Rupan: @timmus: Consumer Product Safety Commission more »

  • news from the swamp

    Liveblogging The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing On Toy Safety

    Today is a big day for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). Starting at 11am, the Chairman of the powerful Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will kick off a series of hearings examining the toy industry's seemingly magnetic attraction to lead paint. Durbin, whose Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Consumer Product Safety Commission's budget, will grill toy industry representatives, consumer advocates, and members of the government over plans to protect America's children from the dangers silently lurking on toy shelves by establishing an independent testing regime.

    The Subcommittee will haul not one, but two Consumer Product Safety Commissioners to testify, along with the heads of Toys R Us and Mattel, who recently agreed to start testing their products for lead paint contamination. Representatives from Consumers Union and the official-sounding American National Standards Institute will round out the motley crew of pedoprotectionists.

    Keep hitting refresh for hot, steamy, liveblogging action!
    (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

    10:35: Video Link - Today's hearing will be carried live on C-SPAN. If you can't wait until 11, hit the link now for coverage of the U.S.-China Consumer Product Safety Summit.
    11:00: Right on time! Looks like this will be a family affair; members from the Senate Commerce Committee will be stopping in. Expect to see Senators Pryor (D-AR), Nelson (D-FL), and Klobuchar (D-MN) soon. More »

    Feature

    10:30 AM on Wed Sep 12 2007
    By Carey Alexander
    5,051 views, 11 comments

    Latest by phoenixcat: I repeat my info from the other lead article today-- IQ deficits, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, stunted or slowed growth, more »

  • 1

  • 1-3 of 3 for "Dick Durbin"