From The Washington Post, 11/2/07:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/01/AR2007110102732.html?hpid=topnews
Industries Paid for Top Regulators' Travel
Two Heads of Product Safety Agency Accepted Trips From Manufacturer
Groups
By Elizabeth Williamson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 2, 2007; Page A01
The chief of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and her
predecessor have taken dozens of trips at the expense of the toy,
appliance and children's furniture industries and others they
regulate, according to internal records obtained by The Washington
Post. Some of the trips were sponsored by lobbying groups and lawyers
representing the makers of products linked to consumer hazards.
The records document nearly 30 trips since 2002 by the agency's acting
chairman, Nancy Nord, and the previous chairman, Hal Stratton, that
were paid for in full or in part by trade associations or
manufacturers of products ranging from space heaters to disinfectants.
The airfares, hotels and meals totaled nearly $60,000, and the
destinations included China, Spain, San Francisco, New Orleans and a
golf resort on Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Notable among the trips -- commonly described by officials as "gift
travel" -- was an 11-day visit to China and Hong Kong in 2004 by
Stratton, then chairman.
The $11,000 trip was paid for by the American Fireworks Standards
Laboratory, an industry group based in an office suite in Bethesda
whose only laboratories are in Asia.
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That oughta keep 'em honest, eh?
Harry
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