Orrin Hatch: “I am proud to sponsor, along with my good friend and esteemed colleague, Senator Kohl, the Product Packaging Protection…”

“I am proud to sponsor, along with my good friend and esteemed colleague, Senator Kohl, the Product Packaging Protection Act of 2001. Other cosponsors include Senator DeWine and the distinguished Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy. This bipartisan legislation addresses a troubling development that has been increasingly reported over the last several years--the discovery by consumers of unauthorized pamphlets placed inside the packaging of everyday consumer products, such as breakfast cereal and frozen foods. In many cases, unsuspecting consumers, including young children, have found offensive messages inserted into the products they have purchased, including pamphlets explicitly advocating violence against particular racial, ethnic, and religious groups. While Federal law currently prohibits tampering with consumer products that taints the product, or renders the labeling materially false, the law does not currently prohibit someone placing writings in or on the product after the product has left the manufacturer's control. The legislation being introduced today will close this loophole--providing the FBI and other Federal law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction to investigate these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice.”