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Write to Congress Using Congress.org
First, if you do not have an account at Congress.org, sign up, otherwise continue with the next step.
You'll need to provide your email address, choose a password, and enter your zip code. You will be sent an email from Congress.org to verify your account - follow those instructions. As part of verifying your account you'll need to complete your profile with more information. Be sure to opt-in or opt-out of additional features according to your preference.
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Second, sign into your account with your email address and Congress.org password. Proceed to step three below.
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Third, you'll see your personal Congress.org page with your Representative and Senators listed along the left side, their real-time voting record in the center, and options to modify your profile in the right column. Click "Write this official" next to the person you'd like to write to. Then, if you get a prompt for a type of letter, choose "compose your own letter" and click the [Next Step] button.
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Fourth, fill out the form with the information to send:
- Write your subject, for instance, "How the CPSIA is killing small business"
- Choose "Select an issue" to read "Commerce"
- Copy and paste the body of the letter (included below) into the area indicated by the blue arrow to the right (you do not need to convert to plain text.) Also, please feel free to customize the letter according to your own situation.
- Enter your name in the closing section of the form
- Enter your name, address and telephone number. This information is required to ensure delivery of your message
- You may optionally use "See Me" and "Message Booster" but they are not required
- Click the [Send Message] button.You'll be redirected to a "Confirmation" page - this page has information about additional services from Congress.org that you may ignore or participate according to your preference.
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Select and copy the text below as the body of your letter.
The economic crisis in our country is distressing to millions of Americans. That is why it concerns me that under the CPSIA, many small business owners will be driven out of business, deepening the crisis. The premise of self reliance and entrepreneurship on which this country was founded is in jeopardy.
I am very concerned that the CPSIA's mandates for third party testing will have a dramatic and negative effect on small businesses whose safety record has always been exemplary. It will devastate small manufacturers and home businesses who create children's products such as clothes, handmade goods and toys for children, children's books, adaptive products for children with disabilities, and classroom and home school materials. These small businesses simply cannot afford the $300-$4,000 price tag per product that third party testing labs are charging.
Under the CPSIA, small businesses are treated exactly the same as the multi-national corporations like Mattel who were behind the 2007 toy safety scare in the first place. It costs the same to test a batch of 50,000 plastic toys in China as it does to test a dozen handmade dolls in the United States.
I urge you to fight for an exemption to third party testing for small batch manufacturers of children's products. We need an exemption similar to what local and organic farmers were provided in the Food Safety law. Without this important change, the CPSIA will destroy thousands of small businesses across the country.
These toy makers, crafters, publishers and small home based businesses have earned and kept the public's trust. They provide jobs for thousands and quality playthings and educational products for hundreds of thousands. Their unique businesses should be protected. Please visit www.handmadetoyalliance.org to learn more about this issue.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. |
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