Saturday, January 10, 2009

CPSIA - Contacting your representatives in Washington

I forgot to add this to my list w/ my Congressman.  Click to find the contact information for your representatives - Congress  and Senate.  

Interestingly enough, I've been contacting mine a lot lately.  The past 6 months have really changed my attitude on being a citizen.  I love our country.  I'm proud to be an American, not just when I sing the song, but every day.  We fly our flag proudly, not just "because".  I've decided to make my voice heard on lots of issues, from Drill Here, Drill Now to Small Business issues and local education issues.  

I'm letting my children know what I am doing and why.  How it impacts them and our family, our safety and our country.  It's important that we stop sitting around complaining, but letting OUR officials know what we think about what they are doing.  Regardless of what political party you are part of, Sarah Palin was right - they work for US!  

Trust me, I feel better every time I write a letter or make a phone call!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know this comment will not be appreciated, but I hope you are willing to hear both sides of this issue. I mean absolutely no offense to handmade products (I make childrens clothing myself) or your businesses, but safety first!!!!! We should be concerned w/ protecting innocent children and not our bottom line! If you want to sew childrens clothing, keep it in your family. There are so many things you can sew. Bottom line... LEAD POISONING KILLS CHILDREN! Better safe.

Anonymous said...

I understand where you are coming from, the toys and items that are affecting our children are not usually American made, so those who work from home in America and do strict American made products {or other countries for that matter} that have not been proved to have bad items for children have to pay for this new law. I agree that is how life goes, but there must be some adjustment to this new law that can take into consideration the safety of children as well as the low income small businesses have making some products. A compromise of some sort but not compromising on the safety of our children. ((HUGS))

Lynn - the piggy bank painter said...

Let me clarify, we certainly DO want to protect our children. All of us here at Superwahmz are moms. Peggy's point, and my view also, is if our suppliers have already tested the products we buy and use, why should we have to retest the products again once we use them? Certainly our childrens' safety comes first....but the paints I use on my piggy banks and plates is certified non-toxic by Duncan, the company that manufactures it. The paint Peggy uses on her pillowcases is lead-free....if we get documentation from our suppliers, do we really need to test our products? That extra testing is what will put us out of business. That's what we are fighting for.....

Anonymous said...

Shannon, I'm not sure where you are coming from. Perhaps you didn't read my original post on this issue and am not sure how you could walk away from any of my comments as caring more about my "bottom line".

I clearly wrote in my original post the following:

"Don't get me wrong, I'm the mom of 2 young boys, I have 16 nieces and nephews and countless friends with children - I'm all for safety, rules and regulations. But forcing small American companies to pay for the sins of large foreign companies that really don't care about the well being of my children or yours, doesn't seem like the best solution."

Furthermore, I also stated that when I started my company, I spent quite a bit of money on testing that WAS NOT REQUIRED by law so that my customers would know that there children's safety mattered more to me than how much it cost to do the testing OR if it was required.

I made the call to the testing lab so that I would be prepared for the investment when the time comes to make it. I have already prepared samples and am planning on sending fabric swatches of my top paint colors to be tested. I'm doing that because I always put my customers - the kids really - first.

So, should you be sharing our posts with others, please be sure that you clarify our position and intentions.

Stitchen - Custom Embroidery said...

I think we are on the same page. All of us. First concern is the safety of our children. Mine are grown but I have grandsons. Of course I am concerned for their safety. I would never put my business or my "bottom line" ahead of a child's safety. I just think that our leaders need to rethink THEIR "bottom line's". What is their point. Are they trying to put small business out of business?? I think they should be having products brought into our country tested before they ever even enter our country. Where was THEIR concern when China was shipping bad children's products into our country. OH MY, I am getting a headache even thinking about our officials. I will have to continue this response later.