Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Clionsumrr l?robud ~lIfe~ Cliommin ion Clionsumrr l?robud ~lIfe~ Cliommission th e Comm ission , h e has given challen gers so lid legal foot ing to co nt est tha t j udge me nt on the basis of h is p rej udgeme nt bias , "And if AT"s are actua lly sa fe whe n properly used , he has do ne a grave p ublic inj ustice, bot h lO th e ma n ufact urers he's supposed to regulat e and lO th e co nsu mers he's supposed lO p ro tect. " Either way ," Craig sa id , " I beli eve he h as vio la ted both the ethics of h is office a nd Federa l law.and he sho u ld be ca lled lO acco u nt o f it," • Text of Craig's letter to Meese S tuart M. " Ba n ' em " Statler sent th is note to Team Smitty creator J im S mith , lauding his cartoons. CRAIG Stua rt " Ban ' em " Sta tler Congressman Larry Cra ig Craig says ATV ~robe com~romised: Congressman wants Statler investigated WASH Il': GTON, D.C. , NOV , 6 A member of the Federal commission investigating the safety of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) may have violated th e la w and compromised the probe, according to U .S. Congressman Larry Crai g (R -ID) . Cra ig made th e acc usa tio n a bo u t Co ns umer Prod uct Safety Commission (CPSC) me m ber 12 Stuart Sta tle r in a leller lO U.S. At torney Gene ral Edwin Meese in whi ch Cra ig ca lled fo r a Just ice Depa rtment inves tigat ion of th e mailer. " I bel ieve Mr. Sta tler's ac tio ns an d pu blic co m me lllS. su ch as h is ca ll for a han an d recall of ATVs . . . leave no doub t th a t he ha s p rej udged the issue a nd co nse q ue nt ly is un able lOmak e a fai r decision ," Cra ig told Meese. In a separate sta tem ent, Craig sa id th e issue is o ne of fairness a nd due p ro cess. " It ma y be," h e said, " tha t AT Vs wi ll he fou nd to be u nsafe a nd tha t regu la tory ac tion is needed . It is as lik el y th a t they will be fo und to he sa fe wh en p ro perly used . " Bu t ei the r wa y, it is a vio la tio n o f the Commission 's responsibili ties to bot h th e manufacturer an d the co nsu me r to wage war o n a product in th e medi a before th e judgem ents a re made." Crai g noted in h is letter to Meese th a t th e C PSC' s investiga tion is not set to co nd ud e unti l Septern ber of next year. "U n fo rt u na tely ;" he sa id, " my p reli mi na ry investiga tio n . . _ indicat es th a t (Sta tle r). wh o sho u ld u ltimat ely judge thi s issue, h as seri ous ly brea ched h is du ty of im part ia lit y and fa irn ess a nd, in th e p ro cess, may have viola ted Federa l law. " Cra ig noted that Sta tler had o ften spok en o ut agai ns t AT Vs and mad e clai ms abo u t th eir safety, desp ite the fact th at the CPSC as a bod y has not yet heard a ll the evide nc e a n d is not sche d u led to mak e a ny decisions for almost a yea r. " In order lOsafeg uard a ny po ssible reg u la to ry ac tio ns ta ken by th e C PSC in a co urt of law , I request th e Dep artment of J us tice in vest igat e Co m missioner Statler's appa rent disregard of Federal sta tutes," Craig 's letter said. Craig also not ed that Statler had , severa l times, issued " fact sheets " and o ther materia ls o n C PSC letterh ead . Th e co ntent s o f th ose do cu men ts had not been reviewed by the Co m mission for verifi ca tio n of the ir accuracv, as requ ired by Federal regu la tio n . . Craig, ran king Rep u bl ican o n the Ho use Co mmi ttee w hi ch has ove rsight respons ibility for th e CPSC, has ta ken Sta tle r lO ta sk befo re for the Com missioner's " ras h and unproven" cha rge s th at ATVs are in he rently unsafe. " T he safety of ATVs is th e lOp ic of a th oroug h in vestigati o n ," Craig sa id, " Mr. St a tier is cha rged by la w , as o ne of th ose who wi ll judge th e resu lts ,lO wa it until a ll th e eviden ce is in before makin g his decision. In stead , h e has co n vic ted ATVs in advan ce in p ublic. H e has ini tiate d a ma ssive pu blicity ca m p aign , sp readi ng un p roven 'fac ts' in p ub lic sta teme llls an d in mailings to m ore th an 500 na tional media o u tlets, " I n do in g so he has p u t the legal credi bil ity of the CPSC in vestiga tion a t seri o us risk, " Cra ig said. " Shou ld ATVs u ltimately bejudged u nsafe by On MOlY 2 1, 1 9~ ':, . t i l(' 11 01 1"0(' C Ollllnillt1.' o n ( ;0\ er n me ru Opera tion s' Commer ce, Con sume r a nd Mon eta ry Affain Su bco mmittee, o f whi ch I am me Ran king Rep u blica n Mem ber , held an o versigh t hear ing on th e U.S. Co ns umer P rod uct Safe ty Co mmission (c PSe) invesnga uon o f saft'ty rela ted issues assoc ia ted with th ree- a nd four -wh eeled a ll- terra in veh ic les (ATVs). The C PSC is pr esenr lv un der ta king a n extensive $1.5 mill io n stud y on ATIs, not ex peeled to co nc lude un u ! September, 198f>' befor e deciding what , if a ny , reg ula tory action m ight be ta ken. I support th e CPSC inv estiga u on a nd strongly beli eve it sho u ld be co nducted in a manner o f fai rn essa nd in accor da nce wu h Feder a l la w. U n fo rtu na tely . my p rel iminar y in vestiga tio n of th e CPSC hand li ng o f th is issue indicat es th at o ne mem ber o f th e Commi ssio n. who sho u ld ul tima tely judge th is issue, has serio usly breached hi s d u ty of impa rtia lit y an d F rn ess. a nd in th e p rocess. ai may h ave viola ted Fede ra l la w. Spe ci fica ll y, Co m mi ssio ne r Stuart Sta tler has, in my opin io n, vio lat ed 15 U.S.C. 2055 (b)(6) a nd 16 G.F. R. 1101.32 (h )( I). In doing so. Mr. Staller has p la ced the ent ire Co mm ission inv est igation in jeo pa rdy sh o u ld the Co mm issio n ini tiate adj udica tory p roceedi ng s ag a ins t a ny ma n ufacturer of AT Vs. In light of these findi n gs. I req uested Mr. Sta ller to recu se him self from a ny furt her Co m mission co ns id eration of the ATV issue, On Sep tem ber 24, 1985, I received a letter from Mr, Sta t ler in whi ch he decli ned to withdraw fro m the ATV investiganon. L therefore. have no o ther choice b ut 10 recom me nd tha i the U,S. Department of j ustice look into these maners. 15 U.S.C . 2055 (b )(6) {sect ion 6(b )(6) o r the Co ns umer Product Saf("ly Act ) states : \\'ht'H' lilt· C:.olluni~ ..io u ininau- lilt, puhl it d i..• closure o f inf orma tio n thai reflec ts o n the safely of a consu mer p roduct o r c ta ss of co nsume r p rod ucts , wh ether o r n OIsuch inf orma tion wou ld en a ble th e public to ascer tai n read il y th e iden tity ol a manu facturer or p riva te labe ler . the Comm ission sha ll establish p roced ur es des igned to ensure that such information is accurate and no t mi slead ing . 16 C.F ,R , 1101.32 (b)(I), which implemen ts th is pr o visio n. stales : The Com missio n will re... eweach pr oposed di si clo sure or inform atio n which is susceptible of Iactural veri fica tion to assure that reason able- step s have bee n tak en to assure 3c-CUf3Q: in accordance wit h sect io n 1101.32(a ). . On Mar ch 7,1 985, Co mmissioner Sta tler ini tia led o n h is own , bu t u nder Commisston le u er bead . a pe rso na l press rel ea se in th e gu ise of a "fact sheet" co nta in in g inf or ma tion rega rdi ng AT Vs. This " fan sheet ," wh ich d id 11m recei ve 6(b )(6) clearan ce, was sent to vario us group.., incl udi n g 500-700 media or ga n izati on s. In Ma y 198:}, Mr. Stat ler disse mi na ted a sim ila r news relea se, aga in witho uI6(h )(6)c1ear.:tnce. Apparen tly con cern e tha i mv sta tem ent s.r ega rd ing d the "Ia ct shee ts " dur ing our subcom minee hearing were cl ose to the ma rk, Mt . Star ler su brnined h is May 1985 " Iac t ..bee t" for Co m mission staff clea rance on J une 12, 1985. H o wever, this req uest for cleara nce ca me ait er in d issemi na tio n . h is a lso int erestin g to no te tha t th e " Can sheet " su bm it ted for clear ance W,IS sliKht lY a lte re d in wo rdi ng u n de r t he h eadi ng "CAUSES" locat ed on page two. In the di stri buted Ma rch a nd Ma y " Iact shee ts," Com missioner Sta tler used th e term "instabifity o f the veh icle. " T he May "fac t sheet" su bmi tted Corclea ra nce does no t contain ..uch wording . The u p'i nion o r the CPSC Ge neral Co u nsel raises th e possibifi tv tha t Co m m issio ner Staller's dissemi nation o f th e " fact shee ts" on AT\"s .....as in viol ati on of sec tio n 6(b)(6) o f th e Con su mer Pr oduct Safely An (C PSA ). Tha t opin io n requires tha t ne w lv-crea ted mat erial, even if it incorpora tes inf or mation whi ch had previousl y been cleared for release. must be scruun ized for accuracy a nd a ppro pr ia te co ntext. The Co m mie..io n !olaf( de mo nstruted the merit or the Genera l Co un sel 's position w h en Ihey req ues ted severa l changes 10 Co mmi ssio ne r Sta rlet's " faa sheets." Des p ite the warni ngs fro m the C PSC General Cou nse l, Co mmi ..ston er Start er la u-r released a no ther "fact sh eet " dated Jul y 19S5, Under th e heading " CAU SES: ' Commi ssioner S tatler uses th e term " d yna m ic stabi fitv." simila r 10 th at used in the March a nd Ma y "Iact sheets." hUI not in the " C act shee t" su bmitlt'd for ckdra ncc in Junt', In addition he ignored sUKgesled ')taff cha nlil:t'S ma de to the submil ted " fa n slK't't: ' su ch a s th o:'o(" undt"r th e heading " I ~ J U R I ES ." Bec- Use he brushed aside these 'i.taff d s u g~t i ons , tech n icall y th is J u ly ran shee l mu st also be d~med as u ncl eared a nd in vio la tio n o r sectio n 6(b)(6). The encio sedJu ne 7. 19R5, S l. Louis Po.ft-D' jpat ch ed ito ria l clea rly de mo ns lra tes how Com miss io ne r Sia de r's " fact sh('('u" a re being misco ns trued by the mt'di a , Thi s ed itoria l sta tes: " FOT the fac t is lha t in 1984, 69 pt'ople a re know n 10 h a ve been killed in acc idents invo lvi ng ATVs whi le a no the r 66,956 .....ere injured seTioudy eno u g h to rt"quire hm pi la l treal me nt : ' (Em p h asis ad ded .) You will note that th e lerm , " 5crio usly," uscd by Co mm issio ner Statl er in h is un cleared " fact sheets ," was remo ved by Ute Co mm is!'o io n !'o la £(a l l the " C sh('t"t" he su bmilloo C act or cleara nce in Jun t". H is railure to use th e term , " estimal l·d h osp ita llreuted" in j ur ies. as s U g'~e'i. ted, by the Com mis ~inn !l.ta H, ~i ve Ihe S t, l. ou is Post-DIspatch Ihe impression tha i an esti maled 66,956 in juries are indet'd fact. Commissio n er Sta tler's displeaswe and d islike for sectio n 6(b )(6) clea ra nce is well documen led , In testimony bef or e bolh H o m e a nd Senat e su bco mmit lees. he ha s ca llt'd o n ('..anKre')!> 10 " urgent ly rdonn Sect io n 6(b) di ')Clos ur e provisio ns ." In a March 20. 1985, memorandum 10 ACling C PSC Ch ai rm a n T('fo ren ce Scan lon , Siader wr ites: "To 'dear' a new dala

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