WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA) responded tonight to news reports that Mattel Inc. will announce the recall of several hundred thousand more Chinese-made toys because of lead-paint contamination. Rep. Markey is a senior member of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, which oversees federal consumer safety issues and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Rep. Markey said, “News of unsafe products infiltrating the American marketplace is becoming all too familiar. It’s clear that our consumer product safety net has a hole in it the size of China. While these recalls are an important step to pull thousands of unsafe toys from the shelves, I remain concerned that many more harmful children’s products may be proliferating in the marketplace without parents knowing the dangers.

“Ever since the Bush administration tried to pull a classic ‘fox guarding the henhouse’ maneuver and nominate a manufacturing executive to be chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the commission has been without a permanent chair. The CPSC has been starved for resources for years while the Bush Administration put the Commission’s vital mission on the back burner.

“As a member of the committee with responsibility for oversight of the Commission, I look forward to probing the circumstances of this latest recall and working to provide the Commission with the authority and additional resources it needs to protect American consumers.”