Dems want product safety chief to resign

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said Tuesday the head of the nation's product safety agency should step aside.

Nancy Nord, acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, asked Congress to reject the bulk of a bill that would beef up the agency.

Pelosi said anyone who didn't think the commission needed more resources "does not understand the gravity of the situation and does not understand the concerns that America's parents have for the safety of their children," MarketWatch reported. Several Democrats called for Nord to step aside.

During a media briefing, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush administration officials "support modernizing and improving" the commission but were concerned about some provisions contained in a Senate bill concerning jurisdictions that "would be cumbersome and actually not serve people like yourself who are worried about your children."

The Import Safety Working Group, headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, is expected to present an action plan to President George Bush by mid-November, Perino said.

Once Leavitt reports to Bush, then the administration would "work with Congress on figuring out a way forward."