Arizona PIRG Tells Congress: Don’t Freeze our Public Health and Consumer Safety Protections

Statement of Diane E. Brown, Executive Director

Arizona PIRG

“Last year, in the 175 days that the U.S. House of Representatives was in session, it passed more than 190 anti-regulatory bills. Next up is H.R. 4078, the “Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act of 2012,” a bill that wrongly calls for a halt on all public health and consumer safety protections until the unemployment rate reaches six percent.

In reality, public health and consumer safety protections strengthen the economy and make our country safer and more secure. Our nation has made advancements beyond the wildest dreams of our Founders, due largely to the public health and consumer safety standards that:

• Make our food safer;
• Save tens of thousands of lives by making our cars safer;
• Make it safer to breathe, saving hundreds of thousands of lives annually;
• Protect children’s brain development by keeping leaded gasoline and lead-based paint out of the environment;

The Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act of 2012 will threaten protections that Americans take for granted and under this bizarre legislative rubric, many regulatory actions that do not fit the popular conception of public health and consumer safety standards would be halted. An example of this is the Pharmaceutical approval standards. Every five years, Congress reauthorizes the Prescription Drug and User Fee Act (PDUFA), which establishes the framework for Food and Drug Administration approval of new medicines as well as the Medical Device User Fee Act, which functions similarly for medical devices. Both acts are set to be reauthorized this year.

The absurdity of H.R. 4078 is reaching stratospheric heights, because what Congress is telling agencies is, “don’t enforce the laws that we pass.” Simply put, if the House passes this bill, it would essentially be sabotaging its own legislation.  The folks who drafted this bill did not think it through and we will see unsafe drugs and medical devices on the market.

Clearly this bill is a danger to our public health and consumer safety protections and should not be passed.”