Joe Barton’s ‘Urgent’ Lead Hearing
As I read and research Joe Barton’s recent calls for a hearing to clarify the recent consumer protection laws being put into place, I’m filled with a little bit of confusion at his latency and suspicion of his intent. Let me preface this by saying that I… wait for it… fundamentally agree with Mr. Barton on the idea that we must protect small business owners from being squeezed out by exorbitant testing and certification fees, which can extend into thousands of dollars per item. In cases like those of the small business my wife owns, a children’s clothing and accessory manufacturer, each style must be tested separately. This means that if, say, one child’s outfit comes in five different colors, tests and certification fees must be paid for each color, easily skyrocketing the costs into the tens of thousands of dollars. For almost all small businesses, this is a heavy pricetag to carry. On top of this charge, the shops and boutiques carrying this merchandise could possibly be out the cost of any existing stock. So, accommodations have to be made to protect small business owners, and quickly.
My issue with Mr. Barton’s actions are in the timing. Debates on CSPIA took place over the summer and the law was passed in August. Why now, with less than a month before the February 10 date in which the law takes effect, does Mr. Barton all of the sudden see the mistakes in the legislation? Were small businesses simply never considered during the debate? Were they considered and dismissed as unimportant? Was our Congress again whipped into a knee jerk reaction in the wake of all the ‘lead in toys’ reports? We’ve seen this over and over from both sides of the aisle, legislation rushed to signature without being adequately fleshed out.
We deserve more from our legislators. Planning for contingencies, especially common contingencies like small business exemptions, should be made before legislation is passed, not in another rushed knee jerk days before legislation takes effect. Efforts could be made specifically to get a stay on this particular law to allow adequate time to make comprehensive small business protections while still protecting our children. We don’t have to rush into anything. Especially something that will weaken the CSPIA’s original intent which is to protect children from the effects of lead exposure.
Please understand this isn’t partisan rancor. There are plenty of Democrats to blame for this as well; Henry Waxman comes to mind. However, Mr. Barton is my representative and as his constituent, I must hold him accountable for any failure or show of incompetence. I know there are those that would say I should at least be grateful that Mr. Barton is acting at all, but I’ve never been one to thank the fox that raided the henhouse for cleaning up the mess later. While we should support Mr. Barton’s moves for a new hearing and any efforts to protect small business owners from this mismanagement of government, we should also remain ever vigilant to keep an eye on any legislation coming out of this debacle. We must ensure especially that no freebies or special accommodations are made for those who have really put our children in danger, such as Mattel, whose PAC for the first time in October 2008 made a sizable contribution to Mr. Barton’s campaign.
Rodney Hopper II
