This is where my advocacy began in earnest
I headed to Washington in the hopes of helping to save lives by sharing Jewel’s story and the shocking facts I had learned about the poor regulation of the automotive industry.
Here’s how it went:
FTC Meeting Monday, May 10, 2016
I met with the Commissioners of the FTC for 3 hours. I said to them, “I represent the tragic results of something that was preventable if regulatory action, by your agency, would have been put into place prior to my daughter’s death.” I implored upon the Commissioners to enact regulations prohibiting the sale of any vehicle unless all outstanding safety recalls were fixed. Doing otherwise would be endorsing the dangerous, unethical, and deceptive business practices of corporations… increasing the risk of death and injury to the public.
DC Meetings on Capitol Hill Wednesday, May 11, 2016
On Wednesday, May 11th, I went to several meetings on Capitol Hill.
10:00 am – Met with Senator Schumer’s office
11:00 am – Senator Durbin’s office, at the time he was the Senate Minority Whip
1:00 pm – Met with the Senate Commerce Committee staff that work for Senator Nelson and Senator Blumenthal. At that time, I spoke with the following two gentlemen:
Christian Tamotsu Fjeld – Senior Counsel for Senator Bill Nelson
He said to me, “I have 3 daughters and I don’t know how you do this.”
I replied, “That’s why I’m doing this. I’m doing this for you and your daughters, for the families of everyone.”
Christopher R. Day – Deputy Staff Director for Senator Bill Nelson and former JAG Officer
When he came into the room, he went directly over to me, shook my hand and said, “I know who you are. You should be the face of this.”