Bush consumer safety nominee under fire

Gall testifies before Senate Commerce Committee, saying she agrees with other CPSC members "97 percent of the time."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Democrats are lining up in opposition to President Bush's choice to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who Wednesday defended her record before the Senate committee considering her nomination.

Senior Democratic sources told CNN there is a good possibility the nomination of commission member Mary Sheila Gall will be rejected, calling it "pretty tight" and "in serious doubt."

Appearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, Gall tried to answer concerns that she often favors companies over product safety.

"I do not hesitate to support recalls when products are dangerous and to impose penalties when businesses have violated commission regulations," said Gall, who has been on the CPSC since 1991.

After the hearing, Democrats sounded unconvinced.

RESOURCES CNN Access: Senators discuss consumer safety nominee   Message Board: The political spectrum

"Time and time again her votes on the commission have been against the children, against families and for the industry," said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois. "When you look at the product involved ... she can't find fault with the product; she finds fault with the consumers and the parents."

He pointed to votes she cast against new regulations for several products, including baby walkers, baby bath seats, and toys posing a choking hazard.

Gall told the senators that although she is the only Republican on the commission, her votes had agreed with the other members "97 percent of the time."

"Clearly I think this is the record of someone committed to consumer safety," she said. "I remain committed to ensuring that the agency stays on course with its crucial mission of protecting the public from unsafe products."

Gall was appointed to the CPSC by the first President Bush in 1991 and was reappointed by President Clinton in 1999.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, questioned why the votes that have sparked concerns were not an issue in her previous appearances before the Senate.

"It's important to note in this debate that Miss Gall's served for seven years, and was then renominated by President Clinton and was unanimously approved by the Senate," he said. "One can't help but be a little curious as to why the issue wasn't raised at that time rather than at this time."

Despite her husband's reappointment of Gall two years ago, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, joined in the criticism.

"Putting Mary Gall in charge of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is like hiring a lifeguard who doesn't like to swim," Clinton said. "She has consistently demonstrated a preference for the interests of manufacturers over the well-being of children and consumers ... even when the number of deaths continues to rise."

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, called the hearing "revealing" and said Gall "is not the right person" to head the commission.

One of the votes for which Gall was called into question was against regulating children's bunk beds. At the hearing, she explained it as a vote against creating a mandatory standard when bunk bed manufacturers were "more than 90 percent in compliance" with a voluntary standard.

"Our law favors voluntary standards over mandatory ones," she said. "I asked our staff if they knew of a single instance where a manufacturer was not in compliance, and they say they thought at the time that it was 100 percent compliance."

Gall's vote in 1994 against a ban on baby bath seats -- made because there was not enough evidence of a danger to support the ban, she said -- was countered by a 2001 vote in which all three commissioners voted in favor of limited regulations.

The Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, and other consumer advocacy groups have opposed the nomination.

Bush remains steadfast in his support. Fellow CPSC member Thomas Moore, a Democrat, has endorsed Gall's nomination.