Mark Pryor

Thank you, Senator Klobuchar.

Thank you Chairman Pryor and members of the Committee for this opportunity to provide testimony to the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance.

And is it your opinion that we should apply that California law as a national standard?

Thank you. Let me go ahead and jump in with a few questions.

OK. Well, let me ask this.

I look forward to seeing that study. It should provide Congress, the CPSC, and consumers with information necessary to evaluate steps forward on formaldehyde use in textiles.

The Subcommittee has been at the forefront of exposing and regulating consumer product risks for years.

And have the domestically based textile companies--you know, the folks that actually make the domestically-produced textiles here--are they self-regulating in any way?

I will keep the record open for 2 weeks, for 14 days, and we would encourage our colleagues...

Because of his efforts, the Commission is now required to focus on public risks that had not received adequate government attention before.

I look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman, and with Senator Casey, on not only providing the best consumer protection that we can possibly have, but also the best protection for the consumer dollar that we can have at the same time.

This will require ongoing, careful Congressional oversight as the new requirements affect every child's product in the stream of commerce.

I want to thank the panelists. And I certainly want to thank Senator Casey for his leadership.

Thank you, Senator Casey, and we look forward to your questions and participation in this hearing.

In this Congress, we will redouble our efforts to improve product safety.

Do you need any more money to do this?

My question is, first, what are the criteria for deciding whether to order production, and second, when will that decision be made?

What are the USTR, USDA, State Department, et cetera, doing to try to ensure that our exports of pork products are not affected by this?

It is essential that we take immediate action to protect the public from this health threat.

And I will note that my understanding is--I am getting this from just some research I have done--that when the District of Columbia went to a new system, in the District, it was about $40 million.

I would share your--I mean, my personal opinion is obviously that the current Senate employees should be given preference.

But the policy is that if they are former staffers, they shouldn't be there.

I guess part of what I am asking is does that mean in 2 years you will come back and say we need a new Module 6?

Modules 3 and 4 will be for special collections materials.

So it will be at capacity in the next few months?