Dear Friend,

Although the holiday season is behind us, the recall of millions of toys manufactured in China last summer has left many families rightfully concerned about the safety of the products they purchased for their children.

Parents need accurate and timely information to make the best choices for their children, so I wanted to let you know about a new resource available at the 8th District Online Office to do just that. The Recent Product Recalls page is designed to provide you with information about recent recalls of products that may pose a safety risk to you and your family.

View the latest product recalls

In addition, I was proud to support several important consumer safety measures in the House to prevent toxic toys from reaching our children:

The Danny Keysar Child Product Notification Act aims to prevent injuries or deaths resulting from unsafe cribs, high chairs, and other products for infants and toddlers by requiring direct notice of recalls to consumers. When it comes to our kids’ safety, word of mouth isn’t an effective system. This bill puts into place a system to ensure parents receive the information they need to make the best choices to keep their children safe.

A second bill encourages companies to promptly report safety problems in their products by raising the maximum fine to $10 million. It is my hope that increased financial penalties will deter companies who might be willing to sacrifice consumers’ safety for financial gain.

I believe these are commonsense bills, and I will continue to look for ways to protect our kids from toxic toys and other faulty products in 2008.

Sincerely,

Brad Ellsworth