President Obama announced today his intent to nominate Inez Moore Tenenbaum as Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Robert S. Adler as a new Commissioner of the CPSC. Furthermore, in the President’s budget, the CPSC receives $107 million, a 71 percent increase in resources since FY 2007. This is almost three quarters of the way to meeting the President’s goal of doubling CPSC’s funding.

President Obama believes strongly in the mission of the Consumer Product Safety Commission: to protect the public, especially children, from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from consumer products, including children’s products such as toys and strollers. For more than 15 years, CPSC has operated with only three commissioners. To revitalize the agency, President Obama plans to expand the CPSC later this summer to include five commissioners. If confirmed, Robert Adler would fill one of these new posts. The addition of extra commissioners is evidence of President Obama’s commitment to restoring the health of the agency, and will ensure opportunity for additional viewpoints to be expressed at the top of the agency.

President Obama said, “It is a top priority of my administration to ensure that the products the American people depend on are safe. We must do more to protect the American public — especially our nation’s children — from being harmed by unsafe products. I am confident that Inez and Bob have the commitment and expertise necessary to fill these roles and raise the standard of safety. To ensure these goals are met, I will also increase the number of commissioners at the CPSC. I am confident this new leadership at the CPSC will revitalize the agency and achieve the high standard of product safety that the American people deserve.”