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PIRG, other consumer and product safety advocates urge Congress to fully fund CPSC

The CPSC is responsible for overseeing more than 15,000 products to make sure they don't violate safety standards such as lead limits, and investigating injuries reported by doctors and consumers.

Consumer alerts

Letters & Testimony

June 22, 2023

Read the letters sent to House leadership and appropriations committee

Teresa Murray

Consumer Watchdog, U.S. PIRG Education Fund

PIRG joined several other consumer and product safety advocacy organizations to send letters to Congress supporting the request from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to provide funding at at least the requested level of $212.6 million for fiscal year 2024.

“We also strongly urge you to protect the agency’s vital work from damaging appropriations riders and other limitations that would unduly restrict the ability of the CPSC to protect the public from hazardous
consumer products, as it has been directed to do by Congress,” the letter said in part.

The CPSC is an independent agency established in 1972 to protect consumers from products that pose a notable risk of illness, injury or death. It currently is responsible for more than 15,000 types of products, from toys to air fryers to tools to electronics.

Signing the letter were the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Kids In Danger and U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

Topics

Consumer alerts

Authors

Teresa Murray

Consumer Watchdog, U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Teresa directs the Consumer Watchdog office, which looks out for consumers’ health, safety and financial security. Previously, she worked as a journalist covering consumer issues and personal finance for two decades for Ohio’s largest daily newspaper. She received dozens of state and national journalism awards, including Best Columnist in Ohio, a National Headliner Award for coverage of the 2008-09 financial crisis, and a journalism public service award for exposing improper billing practices by Verizon that affected 15 million customers nationwide. Teresa and her husband live in Greater Cleveland and have two sons. She enjoys biking, house projects and music, and serves on her church missions team and stewardship board.