Rob Andrews: “I oppose this rule, Mr. Speaker, because of its outrageous assault on the consumers of this country. For 24 years it was…”

“I oppose this rule, Mr. Speaker, because of its outrageous assault on the consumers of this country. For 24 years it was a law of this country that when a shopper went into a store and thought about buying clothing for an infant, if the clothing was not treated in such a way that it would not burn, if it was not treated for flammability, we knew it, because there was a label on it, and we knew enough not to put a 3-month-old or a 4-month-old down for the night in a crib with clothing that might catch on fire and burn the child to death. For 24 years emergency room nurses and arson experts and firefighters across this country said it worked. In 1996, for reasons that are beyond any of us that have any common sense, the Consumer Product Safety Committee changed that rule. It was a rule change that was opposed by the fire community, by the medical community, by the children's advocates of this country. This Congress decided to do something to fix it.”