Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today congratulated Michael E. Baroody for being nominated by President Bush to serve as the next Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).  He will fill the vacancy left by former Chairman Hal Stratton, who resigned on July 15, 2006.  Mr. Baroody’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled for May 24, 2007.

Mr. Baroody has a tough job ahead of him and we wish him luck,” stated Tom Schatz, President of Citizens Against Government Waste.  “The first thing on his agenda should be to get a final federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture out the door.  Six CPSC chairmen and acting chairmen have come and gone and the upholstery industry is without a final standard.  Let’s hope that Mr. Baroody is a lucky number seven and he will be different than his predecessors.”

In 1993, the National Association of State Fire Marshals petitioned the CPSC to issue a mandatory federal standard covering upholstered furniture flammability.  Upholstered furniture is one of the most flammable items in U.S. homes and is the leading cause of residential fires and resulting deaths.  It only takes minutes for a sofa fire to set an entire living room ablaze.  The state of California has had a standard since 1975 and upholstery furniture manufactures cannot sell their product in that state unless they meet those requirements.

“It has been shown that California’s standard saves lives but furniture manufacturers have been reluctant to adopt it nationwide out of concern that a federal standard would overrule it.  For years, manufacturers have been told that federal regulation is pending.  Yet when the expected date arrives, no standard is released, and the waiting cycle starts again,” said Schatz.

“The CPSC has been unable for more than thirteen years to do its job on this issue and millions of dollars have been wasted.  The agency’s bureaucrats just cannot move forward.  It is always easier to do more studies than to make a decision and that is what has happened in this case.  Mr. Baroody needs to exert his leadership and not get co-opted by agency officials.  This regulation needs to get done so that both lives and tax dollars can be saved,” concluded Schatz.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.