31 Jul 2008 02:16 Africa/Lagos
Pelosi: 'Today, the New Direction Congress Asserts Our Responsibility to Protect Children from Dangerous Toys'
WASHINGTON, July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this afternoon in support of H.R. 4040, the Conference Report on Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act. The legislation passed overwhelmingly with a vote of 424 to 1. Below are the Speaker's remarks:
"Today is a special day for us because this bill is long overdue and it took a New Direction Congress to work it out and bring it to the floor in the form which it is in, which is to protect America's children. But it is a special day for another reason and that is because one of the main authors of this bill, Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois, is back with us today. We are all family and to have a family member return to us in good health is something really special. He worked so hard to pass this bill the end of last year, before Christmas, so that families across America could know that Congress cared about our children.
"This bill is necessary because -- does anyone not know that I'm a grandmother? My husband always says, 'I wonder how far into your speeches it is that you start talking about your grandchildren.' But as a mother and grandmother, and as a person who serves a wider range of children in our extended family, I know that parents want to do everything they can to do the best for their children. But we have our limitations. We have to depend on the federal government to protect our children from chemicals that may be harmful to their health or even worse than that.
"2007 was dubbed the 'Year of the Recall' by Consumers Union. More than 45 million toys and children's products were recalled last year, and some were found to contain nearly 200 times the legal amount of lead. Toy trains, costumes, magnets, balls and even baby bottles were among the common everyday items found to be harmful to our children. What is a parent to do?
"This year, dangerous toy and product recalls are happening at an even swifter rate -- the number of recalls of toys and children's products is up 22 percent over the first half of last year. What is a parent to do?
"Most of the toys that are recalled should never have found their way on to the shelves of the local toy stores.
"Over the last several years, at the same time of these record toy recalls, the Consumer Product Safety Commission -- which is charged with testing toys before they end up in the homes of our children -- has been starved for resources. The agency lost 15 percent of its workforce between 2004 and 2007. In 2007, even the Commission's acting director complained that there was only one 'lonely' toy tester at the commission.
"Today with this legislation, we strengthen our ability to prevent those toys from getting to market, get products off the shelves more quickly, and increase fines and penalties for violating product safety laws.
"The legislation eliminates lead beyond a minute amount in toys and other products intended for children under 12 years of age. It also bans toxic phthalates in children's toys and child care articles.
"Today the New Direction Congress is asserting our responsibility to protect children from dangerous toys. Think of that? Shouldn't that be an oxymoron? It should be a given that toys are not dangerous.
"The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is the result of the leadership of many in Congress. I would like to acknowledge and thank Chairman John Dingell and Chairman Bobby Rush. I would also like to acknowledge other leaders on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Henry Waxman, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Congresswoman Diana DeGette.
"So I salute this as a bipartisan effort on the part of our nation's most valuable resource, our children, because it is our duty to protect them. We began this Congress by calling it to order in the name of all of America's children. Today we are honoring some of our promises to them by keeping their toys and children's products safe.
"Again, I urge our colleagues to give an overwhelming, unanimous vote of support for this important legislation for the children. Thank you."
Source: Office of the Speaker of the House
CONTACT: Brendan Daly, or Nadeam Elshami both of Office of the Speaker
of the House, +1-202-226-7616
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The New Yorker's Islamophobic and Racist Cartoon of Barack and Michelle Obama
The Islamophobic and racist cartoon
I am not going to nominate Barry Blitt for the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning and I am not going to join any mob to lynch him, but I must say the truth.
His bizzare and offensive cartoon is a political lampoon to ridicule Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama. It is as Islamophobic and racist as the twelve editorial cartoons of prophet Muhammad published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005.
The New Yorker is accountable for this deliberate act of political provocation to aggravate the negative rumours of the Islamic backgrounds of Senator Barack Obama and his African American heritage.
It is a libelous cartoon published for the defamation of the personality of an African American Senator and damage the prospects of his election as the first African American President of the United States. The New Yorker can fool the rest of America by making obnoxious and preposterous excuses for this derogatory and defamatory political cartoon, but cannot fool any intelligent observer who can see the ulterior motive of this insult on all people of color in America and the rest of the world. This cartoon is a racist political campaign of calumny to malign the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2008 presidential election to perpetrate racial malice and prejudice against Senator Barack Obama and make most of the White voters to see him as a negative symbol of a true American citizen by dressing him and his wife in the masquerade of Islamic terrorists.
This cartoon should be denounced and destroyed!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
The 4Th of July Presidential Hug
President George W. Bush congratulates new United States Citizens at Monticello's 46th Annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony Friday, July 4. 2008, in Charlottesville, VA.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)