Dear Chairs Collins, Cruz, Cole, and Guthrie, and Ranking Members Murray, Cantwell, DeLauro, and Pallone,
We write to urge you to preserve an independent, bipartisan Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and ensure the agency has the appropriate tools, resources, and personnel to carry out its lifesaving mission.
The CPSC is an independent federal agency commissioned by Congress in 1972 to protect the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from consumer products through education, safety standards, regulation, and enforcement. This small agency with a big mission has had lifesaving effects. CPSC standards and enforcement activities have helped spur a 43 percent decline in residential fires, a 47 percent decrease in fire deaths, and a 41 percent reduction in fire injuries from 1980 to 2018. Child poisonings have decreased by 80 percent between 1972 and 2020. Bicycle injuries dropped by 35 percent between 1973 and 2020. Deaths from refrigerator door entrapments and garage door incidents have been virtually eliminated. Crib deaths have plummeted by 80 percent from 1973 to 2018. Pool and pool equipment injury rates have decreased by 55 percent from 1975 to 2019.
We strongly oppose any attempt to dramatically restructure the CPSC, reduce the agency’s workforce, and decrease funding for consumer product safety. The FY 2027 Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) budget and FY 2027 CPSC budget recommend that CPSC’s functions be transferred to HHS. The CPSC budget also requests $135 million in funding (a 10 percent funding cut compared to FY 2025 levels) and 459 employees (a 14 percent reduction of staff compared to FY 2025 levels).
Read the full letter and list of cosigners HERE.