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Our Work

In a democratic society, we have a right to enact laws that protect our health, safety, and well-being.

issues

Beginning with the Progressive Era in the early 20th Century, reforms were passed to ensure workers could not be forced to labor in dangerous conditions and that unsafe food and drugs could not be sold to unsuspecting consumers.

With the growth of the consumer and environmental movements of the 1960s and 1970s, government responded to citizen concerns about industrial pollution and chemical toxins with rules limiting the emissions and contaminants that businesses are allowed to produce in their operations.

Economic disasters in both the 20th and 21st centuries showed the need for strong consumer and financial safeguards to stabilize markets, ensure continued prosperity, and protect the economic security of ordinary citizens from the harsh downsides of the business cycle.

In our modern, globalized world, innovations in science and technology are continuing to advance at an accelerating pace — creating new risks for privacy, competition, and democracy.

Congress has authorized a variety of federal agencies to weigh the risks and rewards to the public and to society from the introduction of untested products and services and unproven forms of commerce.

Rules, standards, and safeguards that protect the public are an integral part of our democratic process — and play an essential role in maintaining an appropriate balance between public health and safety and private profits.

The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards is proud of the advances our country has made in balancing the needs of commerce with the need to protect all Americans. We believe that a sound system of regulatory safeguards is entirely compatible with economic prosperity – and indeed, essential to it. Regulations keep our food, air and water clean, our workplaces and household products safe, and set a level playing field so we all get a fair shot.

We are committed to offering a sustained response to attacks on public protections while promoting ways to strengthen public protections and encourage sound enforcement.