-Caveat Lector-
Bush safety nominee loses key vote
Top job at Consumer Product Safety Commission is at stake
Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee rejected Mary Shiela Gall,
President Bush's nominee to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission,
reports NBC's Robert Hager.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 - The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday voted
against President Bush's choice to head the Consumer Product Safety
Commission, dealing Mary Sheila Gall's nomination a potentially fatal blow.
Gall, who Democrats claim is too pro-business in her votes as a member of
the commission, was defeated in a party line vote of 12-11.
The White House noted many of the same Democrats opposing Gall had approved
her previous appointments.
THE VOTE could be fatal. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told
reporters that "it is not likely we will go to the floor with this
nomination." "The committee has spoken. ... I don't have any expectation
that it needs to go further than that," he said. Gall in a statement said
that "my years of public service to this country simply do not merit
today's vote." "My whole life, both personal and professional, has been
dedicated to children and families," she said. "I will continue to make the
safety and well-being of America's children and families my highest
priority."
SEN. CLINTON A KEY PLAYER
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
Bush doesn't want the current chairwoman, Ann Brown, an ally of Sen.
Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., to continue serving. Republicans were determining
whether they could strip Brown of her chairmanship and elevate a candidate
favored by Bush to the post, said GOP sources who spoke on grounds of
anonymity.
"It's not over," said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who was
among those pressing the White House to push Brown aside. Administration
spokeswoman Anne Womack said the White House was "taking a look at
different options" on how to proceed. She declined to elaborate. The
president has the power to make appointments during congressional recesses
but that action inevitably angers lawmakers and, according to aides, was
not something Bush was expected to do.
CRITICS, SUPPORTERS
A defeat for Gall would be the first outright rejection of a Bush nominee.
His first choice to head the Labor Department, Linda Chavez, withdrew her
nomination amid controversy over financial support she provided to an
illegal alien. Attorney General John Ashcroft survived a nasty confirmation
battle. Democrats, who now control the Senate, hold a one-vote majority on
the Senate Commerce Committee. Led by Clinton, they had charged that Gall,
the only Republican on the three-member commission, developed a record of
favoring businesses over consumers. Critics, including consumer groups, had
particularly zeroed in on her decisions against allowing new regulations
for a variety of products considered potentially dangerous to children,
including baby walkers and children's bunk beds. Gall, in her confirmation
hearing last week, defended her record since first being named to the
agency by Bush's father in 1991. She said she based each of her decisions
on the law. Her supporters have said critics are basing their opposition
more on politics than substance because her renomination to the
commission - by former President Clinton - went unopposed in 1999. She also
has the support of one Democratic commissioner. The head of the American
Conservative Union had sent a letter to senators asking that Gall be judged
on her qualifications. "Depriving the president of his preferred nominee,
particularly one with Commissioner Gall's talent, experience, commitment
and distinction - simply to play political games - is disgraceful," David
Keene wrote. The agency, created by Congress in 1972, oversees about 15,000
types of products, ranging from infant high chairs to fire sprinklers.
While it works with companies to recall dangerous products and develop
voluntary safety standards, the commission also issues and enforces
mandatory rules and product bans.
© 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
================================================================
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
