 Thank you all for being here at this briefing to regulatory disasters Americans harm by deregulation speak out against the Regulatory Accountability Act I am Rachel Weintraub, Legislative Director and General Counsel with Consumer Federation of America And I lead the lobby team and a member of the Executive Committee of the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards or CSS Which is hosting this event CSS is an alliance of more than a hundred and fifty consumer small business labor Scientific research good government faith community health environmental and public interest groups Representing millions of Americans We are joined in the belief that our country's system of regulatory safeguards should provide a stable framework That secures our quality of life paves the way for a sound economy and Benefits us all I Would like to thank the Economic Policy Institute for hosting us today and for all of their work and support In this event, I would also like to thank Americans for financial reform the environmental working group Union of concerned scientists kids and cars Environmental Defense Fund public citizen and my colleagues at Consumer Federation of America for all of their work in preparation for today's event I'd also like to remind everyone that we are live treating at the hashtags hurt by deregulation and Go away r.a.a This morning we are here to discuss the very real and significant consequences of deregulation as A country we depend on rules to make our lives safer healthier and more fair However, there are numerous efforts under consideration by Congress that will make it vastly more difficult If not impossible for rules that we need and expect to ever be finalized The regulatory accountability act is one of the most pernicious of these bills The bill passed the house in January and was voted out of committee in the Senate this past May This bill in the Senate is s 951 and it is a threat to the rules that we all care about The r.a. Would handcuff all federal agencies in their efforts to protect consumers Workers and the environment it prioritizes regulatory costs Over regulatory effectiveness as burdensome new analytical requirements and makes the rulemaking process more adversarial favoring those powerful special interest groups with the resources to make the system work to their benefit the r.a. Would override important bipartisan laws that have been in effect for years as well as those more recently enacted to Protect consumers from unfair fair and deceptive financial services unsafe food and unsafe consumer products for example The r.a. Would infuse obstacles into the regulatory process It prioritizes cost over benefits the r.a. Would require all agencies Regardless of their statutorily mandated missions to adopt the most cost-effective Alternative when issuing major or high impact rules and the administrator of the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs or Oira has discretion to get to categorize rules if they have an impact on competition for example This would significantly override important bipartisan laws that have been in effect for years as Well as more recently enacted laws to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive financial practices unsafe food and unsafe consumer products Many consumer protection agencies have missions to protect consumers in various ways the r.a. Would preempt those missions by prioritizing the most cost-effective Alternative over the most consumer protective Further cost-effective is not even defined in the r.a. Leaving a critical term ambiguous and likely up to years of litigation to decipher The r.a. Requires extensive new analysis that will paralyze agencies The r.a. Would create dozens of new analytical and procedural requirements that all agencies must conduct before issuing protective safeguards these time consuming burdensome resource intensive often one-sided agreements Requirements would not necessarily improve the quality of the agency decision-making process But rather an extensive delay or complete paralysis to the promulgation of safeguards that Americans Expect and rely upon to protect their families The r.a. Would also make the rulemaking process more adversarial more adversarial and less accessible The r.a. Would make it harder for the public including consumers and consumer organizations and public interest organizations To participate in the rulemaking process by requiring adversarial hearing procedures called formal rulemaking for the most significant rulemakings The r.a. Would also make independent agencies less independent undermining their expertise The r.a. Would tie the hands of independent agencies such as the securities and exchange commission the consumer product safety commission And the consumer financial protection bureau, which were specifically created to be outside of the political cabinet level agencies for the purpose of ensuring that the expertise of those agencies Would guide decision-making And finally the r.a. Creates more opportunities for those opposed to consumer and environmental and worker protections to intervene And delay or thwart the rulemaking process The r.a. Would empower those opposed to rules that regulate their industry to intervene in the regulatory process through suing the agency The deference that judges have generally Afforded to agencies that require scientific and particular expertise would be undermined by the r.a.s provision That empowers judges to intervene and use their judgment over that of agency experts This will lead to more litigation and more rules overturned in court As judges increasingly second-guess science and expertise-based agency decision-making to protect the public Our speakers this morning will share their experiences with you that compel the need for more regulation And not less as would be the consequences of the r.a. I would like to briefly introduce our speakers first Amber adamastos is from portland, oregon and we'll discuss how she was denied justice due to force arbitration Our second speaker is pennie dryden She's from wilmington delaware and she will discuss how our community suffers from industrial and chemical pollution Our third speaker dr. Paul brooks is from vienna, west virginia, and we'll discuss how his community suffers from contaminated water Christy christofferson is from bend, oregon And she will discuss how her then 10 month old son became sick with salmonella from eating a toddler snack Our fifth speaker is mr. timothy fring from hollywood maryland And he will discuss the need for window blind safety and the tragedy his family is enduring After the strangulation death of his three-year-old granddaughter from a window blind cord And our sixth speaker is mr. miles harrison from persoville, virginia, whose 21-year-old son died in a hot car Our speaker our speakers will take questions at the end of all of the presentations Thank you very much, and I now turn to amber My name is amber adamastos. I come from a small semi rural community in southern oregon Where I lived with my mother as well as san diego where I lived with my father My mother worked as a bookkeeper My father set tile neither of my parents went to college When I began my studies in 2003 I discovered that I knew very little about the world much less about how it worked or what was possible within it I wanted to study every subject and take classes in every department But the university universe and its bureaucracy was a bit overwhelming So I transferred to a community college Where I attended part-time while working at a coffee shop back then I didn't know how my degree would translate to a career, but I was convinced that earning any degree Would guarantee me a decent well-paying job By 2008 the mistaken yet common illusion I had held about my job prospects had been completely dashed I had only just transferred back to university He had felt the urge to get out before acquiring further debt However, in the fervor of my earlier idealism I had taken courses in so many different subjects that I wasn't Anywhere close to fulfilling the requirements of any single major I left without finishing my degree in 2010 At that time I was scared to take on more debt and decided instead to try to find honest work until the economy recovered a bit After a few years of working low paying jobs. I finally returned and obtained my bachelor of arts in 2013 That same year I enrolled in a graduate level program at the University of Pennsylvania I believed with all my heart that a master's degree from such a well known and well respected institution Would at least get me work that paid above the poverty line And was therefore worth the money invested I left Penn and even achieved straight A's my first semester But by the beginning of my second semester in 2014 I could no longer defer my previous student loans and I was forced to drop out when I couldn't make my student loan payments Which were then up to two thousand dollars per month I returned home absolutely dejected to move back in with my family at age 31 After months of being hounded by dozens of collection agencies over the phone and through the mail I filed for bankruptcy later that year It was a devastating experience to go from so much hope and excitement For the future to feeling like I was completely out of options In 2016 a bankruptcy judge decided that being forced to repay my loans at that point would cause an undue hardship So it was ruled that some of my loans including those held with city bank Would be wiped out The court granted me the ability to get out of default By setting up new repayment terms with private lenders as well as for my federal loans with the department of education You can imagine the sense of relief. I felt at regaining control over my situation After years of uncertainty and disappointment. I finally had the chance to set things right get back on track and lead a normal life At the beginning of 2017 this year My bankruptcy officially closed And all of my creditors received notice of the judge's discharge order including city bank The weight of the past three years was finally lifted and I was free to reestablish myself even as I faced the difficulty of having a bankruptcy on my record But mere weeks weeks After my discharge city bank ignored the order of the judge and turned me over to collections Threatening my fragile credit as well as my newfound stability If I didn't pay Over the next few months I received multiple collection letters and even found out that my boyfriend's grandmother had received a call When the judge found out what city bank did he ordered the bank's lawyers to show cause why they shouldn't be held in contempt for ignoring his order Instead of apologizing or explaining city bank's lawyers are now arguing that the judge has no power over them Because city bank buried a ripoff clause in the fine print of its loan agreement Their lawyers claim that any dispute related to my loan must be Decided in secret and private arbitration proceedings even though it has been discharged In private arbitration the judge would be powerless to enforce any of his orders Instead a private firm chosen by city bank would decide what happens and neither I nor the judge would be able to appeal their ruling A new rule from the consumer financial protection bureau addresses the widespread harm caused by force arbitration It would allow consumers like me to join together to challenge city bank or other bank letters Lenders in class action lawsuits when they break the law rather than having to fight them one by one like me in secret arbitration The rule also brings transparency to individual arbitration proceedings By creating a public record of claims and outcomes ensuring banks and lenders cannot use these clauses to cover up their illegal behavior However Congress has moved to repeal this rule using an obscured pool called the congressional review act If passed this revolution resolution would strip consumers of their seventh amendment right to take banks To court and would even prevent the CFPB from ever issuing another rule to restrict forced arbitration The resolution passed the house two weeks ago and needs just 51 votes to pass in the senate If the CFPB rule is repealed companies like city bank can profit from ignoring The lawful orders of judges that my tax dollars pay for and operate outside of the law in a private justice system We can't allow powerful corporations to hurt consumers like me real people Like all of us on this stage by simply opting out of state and federal laws Yet even if congress chooses to leave this particular rule alone The regulatory accountability act would block agencies including the CFPB from issuing crucial public protections like this rule To restrict forced arbitration I urge congress to support the CFPB arbitration rule and vote against the regulatory accountability act Thank you Thank you so much amber I now introduce penny dryden Thank you very much It's a pleasure to be here on this morning My name is penny dryden, and I am the executive director of community housing and empowerment connections Inc And I am the chairperson of the Delaware branch NAACP housing committee And I was asked to speak today As an affiliate member of the Delaware concerned residents for environmental justice Our mission is to inform and empower communities to take Action to protect their rights to clean air water land and food The regulatory accountability act would create significant blocks to our rights By making it nearly impossible for agencies like the EPA Whose very work is to protect clean air Water or vulnerable communities Create regulations to protect communities Therefore must oppose the r.a.a. I grew up in a small environmental justice community Right outside of the city of womington, Delaware Whose residents are predominantly black low income Have cancer risks That are 19 to 23 percent higher than more affluent communities Respiratory health risks in my community Is 32 to 43 percent higher than Delaware overall People there did not know that their homes schools and playgrounds Were built on top of filled marsh And near toxic plants That are detrimental to their health and the health of their children I now understand why my father died of pancreatic cancer My 81 year old mother who suffers with breast cancer And I'm a two-time survivor of breast cancer at 19 And colon cancer at 58 I am now 60 years old. I am cancer-free. Thank god In addition to having the second highest cancer and respiratory hazard risks Within one mile there are 48 brownfield sites More than half of all brownfields in Delaware Also within one mile are two risk management program facilities 13 toxic release inventory facilities And four superfund sites Our communities must remain informed and protected D-regulation are rolling back of the risk management plan rule On chemical facilities that allow communities like mine To be aware of the dangerous chemicals lurking in our backyards is unjust This D regulatory push must be stopped The lack of strong regulation on air pollution to local plants and industrial facilities Will leave many communities like rosegate Right outside of loomington delaware and others more susceptible to asthma and respiratory illnesses Legislation like the raa will make it even harder for our communities To get the protection we need from polluters and industry bad actors Therefore, I strongly urge the us senate Delaware delegation senators carper and coons to stand with us Protect us by voting down the regulatory accountability act What we want our communities in northern newcastle county want a policy approach to address Or that addresses a remedy For addressing exposure to both indoor And outdoor air toxics We support changes in development And land use policies permits and practices that include addressing cumulative impacts Building materials made for housing health care facilities and schools and school settings Including a plan for addressing the threats of sea level rise overall We want proactive mitigation plans that will protect us from chemical natural disasters and climate induced disasters More we want to be part of the process because we hold solutions We believe in the beloved communities that includes healthy and just employment located along a healthy coast That is what we are organized and standing for Not deregulation like raa. Thank you Thank you so much penny. I now introduce dr. Paul brooks Well, I want to pass my gratitude for being able to speak to this conference That's terribly important My name is uh, dr. Paul brooks. I've been a physician in parkersburg west virginia for over 40 years And for over 10 years I've been deeply involved with the discovery of the c8 cabinet Contamination and the ongoing discoveries of human diseases that c8 has been linked to in humans When c8 was discovered in the water supply in the middle high valley People in the area were shocked This occurred Early in this century Dupont The people trusted dupont to be forthcoming about the situation and they were not Dupont believed them and they Claimed publicly that c8 was harmless in humans And if it were not for outside regulation Thousands of residents of the parkersburg area would still be exposed to unsafe water and will have never known it That is why we must have independent regulation Obviously self-regulation doesn't work As a result of dupont's decades long cover-up of the science behind the c8 and the contamination in the ohi river and the water supplies in six water districts Uh They exceeded that regulatory level At that time lawsuits were filed C8 health project was accomplished and the extent of the diseases That were linked to c8 were exposed Thousands of people in my community have been sickened By c8 dumped in our water by dupont We now know that c8 exposure is linked to cancer also colitis and other serious diseases But without regulation the dangerous c8 may have never been known The data collection in the c8 health project began in july of 2005 And was accomplished by june 2006 We collected data from nearly 70 000 residents that were exposed to the water there on a at least a one-year continuous basis Independent epidemiologists of national uh an international claim Gave indications that there were links to human diseases were likely But they could not make their final determination Until all the data that they were required to find and look at including the large collection Was examined and and and the results known In early night in early 2012 The epidemiologist released a final report naming six diseases with probable links to c8 Exposure Meanwhile dupont claimed we acted responsibly Even after that was proven to be a lie The water supplies of parkersburg 12 million gallons a day And vienna where I now live one million gallons a day Were lower than the epa non-enforcible advisory of short-term level Which was 30 days or less. This was the beginning of the of the Class action lawsuit in 2000 and that was settled in 2005 The population felt safe because they generally believed that the advisory level was not exceeded Trial results in federal court, which recently ended this past uh spring part of them The discovery of the extent of dupont's decades long cover up of the science And now commuers contamination of the area with another chemical which is another fluorocarbon named gen X Has led to the community to hold a different attitude towards dupont Then more contamination was discovered in my town of vienna In the spring of 2006 discoveries of contaminations and of c8 in new york new jersey vermont epa reduced its advisory level And this was their first The advisory level was long-term exposure And drinking water to 0.07 parts per million That is pretty dilute Parchberg water still below that recommended level, but vianas was not so panic set in immediately The announcement was made on uh, wednesday and thursday the city council of vienna met close to schools restaurants and advised citizens Uh to uh and people who supplied water like residents Demanded or directed that they use bottled water There was a run on bottled water guards had to be placed around the trucks that brought in Water that you can go and collect from a large tanker truck And uh the uh, sorry And I had to place guards at those trucks the commuers paid for the filtering of the vienna water And supplied bottled water for free Dupont had passed off their name and And divided it into commuers is now the entity Since of since fall since this past fall c8 is not detectable in the vienna water Harkersburg has declared its water safe because it's still under the epa advisory levels of the 0.07 parts per billion Recent parts were analysis confirmed levels of that or below that but without regulation vienna and many other communities would still be drinking contaminated water to this day vienna's reaction mirrors other areas in the us and europe When informed at approving toxic chemical has contaminated them Without previous knowledge and then informed it can cause deadly diseases Communities become upset and angry The following news that we carried to the doger in the netherlands caused an now an initial criminal investigation by the netherlands parliament which is now ongoing In wilmington delaware, north carolina commuers is being held accountable for dumping gen x The replacement chemicals i mentioned for c8 into the local water supply. That's got a lot of national attention So we are we are in contact with communities across the country That are dealing with c8 or other floral carbons contamination in new york, vermont, Wisconsin, new jersey, pennsylvania Its discovery and partners were c8 contamination now recognized as a national and international health issue Every human being on this planet Will test positive for c8 My impression at the present is that today a high percentage of citizens of parkersburg area believe that c8 is a threat To their health Dupont is responsible and dupont has abandoned the area Dupont was not forthcoming it took years For parkersburg to know the truth As a result parkersburg residents are under constant threat of developing disease and have daily concerns If our government doesn't protect us, who will? In conclusion without meaningful regulation None of the contamination would have been discovered No one in my community would have found out about the harmful effects of c8 Dupont would have walked away from the largest worldwide Contamination of a toxic substance untainted and untouched Legislation cannot be allowed to hinder proper and timely regulation Mills like raa should not be passed by congress If it is passed what happened in parkersburg Will continue to happen again and again. Thank you Thank you very much. Dr. Brooks I would now like to introduce Chrissy Christofferson from Bend, Oregon Thank you to the coalition for sensible safeguards for organizing this event and inviting me to speak My name is Chrissy Christofferson. I'm from Bend, Oregon, and I'm here today to tell you about what happened to my son beck Food that we assumed was healthy Ended up being the worst thing we could have given our child and that's something that no parent should have to face Back in 2007 beck was just under a year old and one of his favorite foods was a puffed rice snack with kale and spinach seasoning We never imagined that something that seemed so wholesome would make our child so sick When beck began having diarrhea, we thought it was just the flu After three days it became a painful ordeal to change every diaper We took beck to our physician for an exam And our doctor noticed the severe diaper rash had developed from blood and mucus in his diaper They soon discovered the presence of salmonella wandsworth an uncommon bacteria that infects mostly children About four weeks after beck tested positive for salmonella the public health department told us the cause of the illness Across the country 55 people had been infected in the same outbreak With an average victim age of just 16 months They determined that a vegetable seasoning from china was the culprit after finding nothing when testing more common infant toddler food Beck was sick for 10 days and though we haven't faced any ongoing health problems yet We know we may face problems in the future because the bacteria infected beck's 10 month old digestive system at such a young developing age People assume that if a product is being sold on the shelves It's fine and there must be some inspector out there making sure it's okay But in reality contaminated foods frequently slip to the cracks without being recalled Our food safety system needs to be strengthened But the regulatory accountability act would make it more difficult For agencies like the food and drug administration to ensure that the food we feed our children is safe In 2011 the food safety modern modernization act authorized the fda To issue additional regulatory protections to prevent contaminated food and respond to outbreaks But the raa would stop these new protections in their tracks The regulatory accountability act would add dozens of cumbersome new requirements to the rule making process And require that agencies like the fda put corporate profits ahead of public health and safety when developing new regulations The legislation would also give corporate lobbyists and lawyers dozens of new ways to dilute delay and defeat public protections There's a reason people are calling the raa the filthy food act And that's because it would make our food less safe. It's bad for consumers bad for our families and dangerous to our children According to the Centers for Disease Control Every year about 48 million americans get sick 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from eating contaminated food These contaminants claim the lives of dozens of children every year I have personally met many families who have lost loved ones due to preventable foodborne illnesses Our family was lucky in our experience That I did not result in losing our child. No one should have to go through that Lawmakers should vote against the regulatory accountability act and should instead work on making our food food supply safer Rather than undermining the agencies that are supposed to ensure our kids don't get salmonella the way back did I have a message for senator rob portman the lead sponsor of the raa and all the other senators and members of congress Who signed on to the bill as co-sponsors? The raa would block lifesaving public protections and let big corporations rig the rules Please reconsider your support for this dangerous legislation No parents should have to go through what we went through We need to do everything we can to make sure that what happened to my family doesn't happen to anyone else. Thank you Thank you very much Thank you very much christie. I now Introduced mr. Timothy frink from hollywood, maryland My name is timothy frink I have five children I have five grandchildren I have another one on the way And I have one that we lost our precious Brianna who died at age three Due to strangulation by a venetian blind court five years ago in general I've always thought that I was in favor of limited government regulation of our personal lives and our businesses But after hearing these panelists, I'm drastically reconsidering my position I truly believe no business has the right to police their own safety standards decade after decade while children continue to needlessly die on products That meet the exact standards that the industry is deemed to be safe If an industry has the technology but refuses to design out hazards, there must be restraint There must be regulation And there must be controls to keep these big businesses from destroying Our children's lives so needlessly please help us By opposing this regulation the regulatory accountability act that will make it difficult or impossible for sensible protections that will save lives prevent injury to become law We should not do anything that will tie the hands of the consumer product safety commission Which is charged with protecting our children from unsafe products My daughter christiana and her husband christopher were military police officers in january of 2011 When they received orders to return to iraq It would be chris's third tour and christie's second tour They had two precious little girls at this time rihanna who was almost two years old and a lexus who was seven months old Our families all agreed to have the grandchildren stay with the two sets of grandparents while the Our kids went off to iraq In 2011 at first I couldn't believe they wanted to leave their children behind And go off to the war together and serve at the same time, but they thought it would be less stressful on their marriage and their family By leaving the children with us It turned out to be a great year in our lives a year we'll never forget having those precious children with us You know parenting young grandchildren can be real challenging it for any grandparent as some of you already may know Their energy their emotions and challenges can really stretch grandparents, but reliving those early years When our own girls were so small was a tremendous delight and well worth the challenges we faced Here a couple of entries in my journal from that year when our Little girls lived with us Rihanna you were so good with words and expressing yourself at such a young age You always amaze us with your delightful expressions And i'll never forget that time when you were driving to the top of the bridge in salamence island And you look out at the age of two And beholding the beautiful view of the protection river in the chesapeake bay you threw out your arms and proclaimed It's amazing Which is what we always say when we drive over that bridge, but you don't expect a two-year-old to be saying that I could share story after story of our precious uh rihanna While she was living with us but When christopher and christie returned from iraq in december 2011 We were very thankful for their safe return the family was reunited and moved back to clarksville, tennessee where they were stationed And it was on july 10th five years ago That we received the horrible news that our granddaughter briana had been strangled to death by a blind court in the upstairs den Uh, it was a simple thing You never would even think it could possibly happen to you and your family um matter of fact our kids they had installed these heavy-duty blinds from uh a big box store And they had specifically cut the cords because it was recommended don't have those really long cords which were like 10 feet long Bring them up so that they're not on the floor so they can't cause a danger and they had done that But unfortunately about a year later, they redone the furniture in the upstairs den and they pushed that couch up against the wall with the lines behind Not even realizing that was a deadly danger so on that day um Brianna had put on her little bright outfit and coasted her daddy into marrying her again with mommy officiating It was one of her favorite pretend games Then daddy went to his job on the base and christie took the day off to spend With the girls and later that day christie was cooking dinner and brianna was upstairs watching a program in the den And christie heard it go really quiet and she had her brianna jumping or squealing with the light And so she wanted to investigate And you cannot imagine the shock and the horror that uh christie felt when she went upstairs and discovered brianna Hanging there strangled to death by this blind cord christie was a um A medical technician and she tried to do cpr, but uh it was too late Brianna was gone The impact upon our kids and our family was beyond words. You can never recover from You never fully recover from the sudden death of a child Christopher retired from disability from the army due to ptsd And the very serious injuries he had suffered in iraq to his knees christiana suffered from severe psd from her war experiences and the devastating loss of her Precious little princess and she too lost her army career and is now retired in a disability And five years later she still walks with emotional scars and deep pain in her soul And they were extremely fortunate that their 11 commitment to each other was so strong that they didn't lose their marriage also like Many families had a philosophy young child You know our children were willing to sacrifice a year of their lives With their two little children and they were willing to lay down their own lives because they believed in america They believed in protecting america from death and destruction And it's a terrible irony and a shame that brianna had to be killed in her own home, which should be a safe haven For the last 40 years window-covering manufacturers have known that their products are killing our children And yet they've been unwilling to stop production and sacrifice their products We survived this horrible experience, but our family will never be the same You see we not only lost her own granddaughter, but we felt we lost her own little girl because she had lived with us that year We've all been broken by one of the most heart-reaching events any family can experience And we are heartsick that this industry continues to pass through their safety Testing procedures courted window products that threaten children's play in sleep environments Many tenants including those in hud housing military soldiers They have no choice on what window coverings are in their homes They're children sleep and play in an environment that are made unsafe by lethal cords in the homes and preschools And it seems wherever I go I go into people's homes and there's these venetian blind cords everywhere And it's one of my missions to say do you know that my granddaughter died on a product just like this? And I don't care that you got it hung up here. It could come down in an instant and kill your child In 30 seconds Every single one of these corded products has a cost-effective cordless alternative And children have been strangled on cords with safety cleats with breakaway cords with loops that have been tied down with Tengeners that have broken away from walls and other failed safety devices that unsuspecting parents have trusted as child safe You know, I truly believe this are the regulatory accountability act is is misnamed It really should be the regulatory unaccountability act Because it is allowing these companies to be unaccountable for their actions And not have to follow proper procedures and testing in order to have safe products For our own benefit It will allow companies to produce products that are the least costly Or most cost-effective rather than products that maximize net benefits to the public That seems backwards. What's more important corporate profits or the lives Of our children and our family members. It just it just doesn't make sense to me I urge everyone to remember our story and to oppose the rra That'll make it harder for the u.s consumer product safety commission to prevent other families from suffering as we have I urge our senators And our president to oppose this act in any other legislation that will make more difficult for agencies to fulfill their missions And protect children and their families This regulatory accountability act will make it almost impossible to force businesses to properly value all human life And especially to cease making child killing products. Thank you so much. Mr. Frank I now introduce mr. Miles Harrison from Percival, virginia Almost nine years ago. It was a typical day of getting getting everyone up and ready to head out the door As well as myself to work out To work on time like so many parents I was multitasking getting my child ready making sure we hit everything packed and rushing around with the typical morning business My world changed forever that day When I went into my office that day I was focused focused on fixing all the problems at work because that was my job The day flew by I went to lunch with my boss to fill him in on the status of my work It was the only break of the day Then having no idea what time it was a colleague came into my office and said hey Do you have a doll in your car? I had no idea why he would ask such a question and couldn't imagine what he was talking about I stood up and started to go through what I had done that day And then realized oh my god No No god. No I rushed to the car and as I came upon the side window. I saw chase I had not dropped him off at daycare as I had intended I ripped open the car door Pulled him from the car seat unaware of anyone around and ran it to my office with him in my arms Screaming and crying and calling out for help It was too late. I was so distraught upset and completely incapacitated Excuse me That I spent hours in the ER The nurse offered me painkillers to help me feel better, but I refused and said I did not deserve not to feel the pain Without any compassion the police demanded that I be brought to the police station and interviewed immediately The detective started asking all sorts of questions like do you have life insurance on your son? It started to hit me I had killed my son My poor sweet little boy Take me now And return him to his beautiful mother Please god not him me I had to be hospitalized for several weeks and even registered under a fake name Because I would have been arrested the moment I left the hospital Tragically I was not even allowed to attend my son's funeral My story continues with a very public trial Finding a charge of involuntary manslaughter of which thank god I was found not guilty after three days in the courtroom It really didn't matter to me whether I was found guilty or innocent. I considered myself guilty guilty and full of shame I cry every day for chase I still have not forgiven myself and don't know if I have the capacity to do so I look at my wife in amazement She has never wavered. She has stayed with me and we are still together She is the most beautiful and wonderful wife in the world After the trial gene weingarten wrote a pretty surprise Winning article titled fatal distraction about parents who have gone through What my family went through He somehow was able to capture the essence of how otherwise wonderful parents could be involved in a parent's worst nightmare He was able to explain this modern-day phenomena in a way people could understand and relate The death of our precious baby boy became an international incident The russian government banned all adoptions of american children and named the law after my son chase We were bombarded with news articles written about what a terrible person I am and how this could never happen to responsible people But frankly the daily beating I give to myself is far more brutal Than anything I have ever read about myself on the internet This did not have to happen If there had been a simple chime to alert me of my son's presence None of this would have happened How can this be That in this great country it is not mandatory that the simplest alarm not be required in all cars Children are dying unnecessarily Families are being destroyed unnecessarily This has got to stop We need we need to pass a law that will set in motion a process to finalize a regulation To require a charm or other reminder to prevent other families from experiencing this tragedy We already have our work cut out for us Passing a regulation is hard and takes a long time Kids in cars.org has been trying for 15 years to get this technology added to vehicles unsuccessfully It's already close to impossible to make these types of changes But if a bill called the regulatory accountability act or r a r or r a a is passed and becomes law It would virtually be impossible for a rule like this to ever be implemented It would also prevent rules from being implemented to prevent other safety problems that harm children and adults in cars And involving other products the r a a Will require so much analysis will require an adversarial system And will not sufficiently take into account the vast benefits of life saving rules such as a rule that could have saved My son chase In our son chase's honor we have made it our mission to try to prevent this unspeakable tragedy from happening to any parents Every time we hear of another child dying we relive that horrible day with them all over And we ask why why does this keep happening when there is technology available to prevent it Every loving caring parent must realize that this disaster could happen to them They need to be aware of this phenomena and make sure that rules that would save lives such as a rule to mandate A vehicle alarm system to save the lives of our children and eliminating the crushing pain this causes their parents Can be implemented. Thank you Please join me in thanking our speakers. It takes tremendous strength and courage to turn these personal and community Tragedies into advocacy every one of these families of these individuals Very much could turn inward and and suffer Silently and internally and yet all of these folks have chosen to Be out there publicly to prevent others from suffering the harms that they are suffering and Please join me in expressing awe and appreciation to them I now would like to open the floor to questions. Please identify yourself Um before you choose to ask your question I'm mark gruenberg. I represent associate junior news service. Just One comment on the on the c8 and I'll ask the question I remember I've been around long enough to remember when the united steel workers had to deal with a big c8 Uh pfoa problem. I think it was in oklahoma So you might want to contact them for uh aid and analysis there Now the question is one one of you mentioned, um Senator portman as the lead sponsor of the rAA Obviously this thing is kicking through congress Or going through congress Have any of you had a chance to talk? With uh your lawmakers and if so what responses or lack of them have you gotten? Well, we are actually um meeting with um our Members of congress and they're members of congress later today and we've had a a series Of meetings and lobby days from all different communities a consumer lobby day and other communities have had lobby days communicating with their members of congress With various results depending I would say on where Where they are however We've been heartened that more people have not gotten more senators have not gotten onto the bill And it's incredibly important for these folks to communicate their stories Dr. Brooks, do you want to respond? Well, it's it's hard to recall Oh, how much is going on the past few years, but in since We uh established a website do punk keep your promises We have sent at least two or three communications to all of the city county state And national representatives in the state of west virginia and oh how because oh how um actually five of the six water districts that became Prominent in the class action suit or in oh, how they're on the western side of the river And we're on and in the lubeck, which is the other so the eastern side um I hate to admit it, but essentially no results I don't think and I'd have to go back to the Central office of Do punk keep your promises, but I don't we may have knowledge that they got it We receive your communication But nothing to the best of my knowledge has ever been done Of course locally, I've been you know fairly active from time to time but You know we let's put it this way We would have never had the water in vienna, which is a small Distribution million gallons a day Had it not been for the epa dropping that advisory level That created a panic I alluded to It would have never occurred And we'd still be drinking the same Contaminated water that was established at I think point one most areas in New York and vermont etc. So We're going to have to to try to Get enough mass if you will critical mass to bring You know meaningful meaningful Regulation to this terrible chemical And it's not only the United States. It's worldwide. Okay And I would just like to add that there are many False narratives being perpetuated about the need for regulatory reform with the r.a One specific false narrative is that it's procedural it merely amends a 40 year old law that needs to be changed That could not be further from the truth and The stories we've heard today the real world consequences Of making it even harder to regulate are the strongest response to that false narrative And that's what we'll be talking to senators about today Any other questions before we close? Okay, well, I thank you very much for your time and the speakers will be available for one-on-one interviews After this briefing ends today. Thank you very much