Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this hearing.
Over the past two years, you and I have worked in a bipartisan manner to identify and, where appropriate, remove outdated, duplicative or over-burdensome rules.
During last year's FAA bill, for example, we crafted a provision that streamlined the aircraft certification process and would likely have spurred job growth in the aviation industry.
While the House balked at that provision, it serves as an example of how this committee has come together in the past to remove unnecessary burdens to commerce.
At the same time, Mr. Chairman, this committee has taken numerous bipartisan actions to protect the health and safety of all Americans.
For example, we witnessed numerous injuries and deaths from dangerous toys and children's products due to weak government oversight. This culminated in the disastrous 2007 "summer of recalls" for a variety of children's products.
One young child who died as a result was named Garret Davis. He was a four and a half-month-old who suffocated on an unsafe mattress in a portable crib during a trip to Florida in 2000. Garret's mother Joyce, is in the audience today -- and I want to thank her for tirelessly advocating for tougher product safety standards.
We also have the Hartung family here, whose daughter Abigail was injured by a defective crib in 2007, and Tim Frink, whose granddaughter was killed by unsafe window blinds in 2012 in Tennessee while her parents were serving in the Army at Fort Campbell.
It's tragedies such as these that remind us of the human costs when we fail to address dangerous products.
They're also why this committee responded by enacting the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and gave regulators the power to quickly enact rules when there is a danger to children's safety.
And while we've made strides, there are still areas where we need to be vigilant. The Takata airbag crisis is a perfect example. More than two years ago, this committee heard testimony from Lieutenant Stephanie Erdman who was seriously injured when her Takata airbag exploded in her face. She almost lost her eye -- and her career in the Air Force as a result.
Fast forward to today and we still have no government rules to ensure the safety of these airbags -- this despite 11 U.S. deaths, hundreds of injuries and the single largest recall in history.
I could go on and on with other examples -- like the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico because BP put profits over safety and cut corners. That incident killed 11 workers and destroyed the seafood and tourism industry in many parts of the Gulf for more than a year.
Mr. Chairman, while I look forward to working with you to identify common sense regulatory reforms, I strongly urge committee members to refrain from taking a wrecking ball to regulations under our jurisdiction which protect the health and safety of all Americans.