Nader Backs Laws Aimed at Ending 'Corporate Carnage'

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced last week he is supporting two corporate accountability bills aimed at warning the public about dangerous and deadly products and tracking corporate crimes.

Introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the bills come in the wake of revelations of GM's deadly ignition switch defect, which the company kept from the public for years.

"Corporate crime has long swept our nation, draining people's hard-earned savings and severely harming the health and safety of millions of people," said Nader. "The executive and corporate perpetrators of this crime wave, far more often than not, [are] getting away scot-free and sometimes promoted."

The Dangerous Products Warning Act would force companies to be transparent about any dangers their products or services pose to the public and hold product supervisors criminally liable for cover-ups. It would also outlaw retaliation for whistle-blowing on such dangers.

In his USA Today piece "Carnage is a Corporate Tradition," Nader writes, "We owe it to all the mothers and fathers of those killed in product safety disasters to say, 'Never again.'"

The Corporate Crime Database Act would mandate that the Justice Department create a free and public database tracking corporate criminals.

"These two great bills would help protect consumers from deadly products, and inform citizens about corporate crime and who perpetrates it," said Gary Ruskin, director of the Center for Corporate Policy. "They would help hold corporations accountable for their crimes and for failing to warn us about deadly products."

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