KEEP AT THEM!! RE: CPSIA!

I have been reading up so much on this daily and from what I am reading the CPSC is a bit of a victim to this horrible law too! This is just a poorly wrote law they need to be fixed and fixed by Congress!! We need to keep contacting CONGRESS over and over relentlessly.

Call, email and fax - and do it often if you have the time and energy. These contacts add up. We have found at least three Congressmen and one Senator who stood up already. There will be more, soon.

Again here is who and how to contact...


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Contact Congress! Here...
writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml


Contact your Senator here....
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
(choose your state on top to get started)


Contact the CPSC directly here....
www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/commissionernord.aspx


Email them, fax them AND write letters to mail!! I have done all 3 for each for several times!!!

LADIES AND GENTS WE HAVE TO KEEP AT THEM AND ENCOURAGE ALL YOU KNOW TO KEEP AT THEM/FORWARD THIS.....

The more they here from us the better! The more noise we make the better....

And here is my letter, feel free to use it but PLEASE change and add your personal info in the middle section! I have sectioned it off , the part to change is between the **********lines hope this all helps...


From:
(your name and address)

To:
(Your congressmen or senators name)


RE: Changes needed to the Consumer Product Improvement Act (CPSIA) to Save Handmade Products and Small Business in the USA


Dear (put their name),

Like many people, I was deeply concerned by the dangerous and poisonous toys that large Chinese toy manufacturers have been selling to our nations families. And, I was very pleased that Congress acted quickly to protect America's children by enacting the CPSIA.

However, I am very concerned that the CPSIA's mandates for third party testing and labeling will have a dramatic and negative effect on small business especially the handmade product at home, micro business in the USA whose safety record has always been exemplary. It will also devastate small manufacturers of children's clothes and other handmade goods for children.

Because of the fees charged by Third Party testing companies, many manufacturers, especially makers of beautiful hand made items such as childrens handmade clothes and hair bows, wooden toys and unique children's clothes from Maine to Oregon will be driven out of business. Their cottage workshops simply do not make enough money to afford the price tag per item that Third Party testers are charging.

************

I am a stay at home mom to 5 children. I am a wife and have a home business as well. I hand craft and sell little girls ribbon and fabric hair accessories (bows and headbands etc...) on my website. I have worked VERY hard over the past 4 years to grow my business. I am the only income for our family.

My business has taken off over the years to the point my husband does not HAVE to work and can stay home and help with the kids while I work and bring in enough income to support us! I have felt truly blessed and proud to be a self employed business owner in the United States!

This law, if implemented, would be tragic to our family. I would be out of work leaving our family with no income at all! My husband would be forced back out into the work world and hopefully find a job in these economic times, that most likely would not pay for our bills we currently have.

Things are so good with my business, I CHOSE to be my own boss and be able to stay at home with my babies. This law MUST be amended to keep the small business men and women of America in mind! There are so many people out there that choose to buy hand made because of the love and extra attention and care, knowing that these products are produced in the USA and they do not have to buy from China etc.

****************
I urge you to quickly request the Consumer Product Safety Commission to make some very reasonable exclusions in their interpretation of the law as they continue their rule making process. For example, manufacturers should be able to rely on testing done by their material suppliers instead of paying for redundant unit-based testing.

I would also like to see an exemption to third party testing requirements for micro-businesses similar to the exemptions granted by the FDA for small producers under the food labeling laws.

If you feel that testing should still be required, then the CPSC should be made to offer free testing services for micro/small manufacturers.

These crafters and toy makers have earned and kept the public's trust. They provide jobs for thousands and quality hand made playthings and pretties for hundreds of thousands. Their unique businesses should be protected!

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

(your name)

Posted at 3:17pm Jan 11, 2009 EST