New CPSC Chairman Assumes Duties

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Jacqueline Jones-Smith was sworn in today as Commissioner and Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for a seven-year term ending October 26, 1996. Jones- Smith was nominated to head the Commission by President Bush on October 12, 1989. She was confirmed by the Senate on November 18.

Jones-Smith said, "The Consumer Product Safety Commission has a vitally important statutory mission in protecting American consumers from unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products. I will devote my full energies to ensuring that the Commission enforces the product safety laws. I plan to use the full benefit of my legal and management experience in directing the work of the Commission. As Chairman, I look forward to a close and productive working relationship with my fellow Commissioners and the staff."

Jones-Smith has more than 10 years of legal, management and government experience. Since 1987 she was a staff attorney for the Federal Election Commission where she litigated cases in U.S. appellate courts. From 1985 to 1987 she served as Assistant County Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland, where she prosecuted civil infractions relating to health, public safety and environmental protection. She also represented the County Department of Social Services in child neglect and abuse cases.

From 1979 to 1985, Jones-Smith held progressively responsible positions in the library/information science and facilities management fields with the MAXIMA Corp., an integrated information systems company based in Rockville, Maryland. As a senior-level manager with the firm, she managed projects and staffs at sites throughout the United States.

Jones-Smith was born in New York City on November 5, 1952. She grew up in New York City and Philadelphia where she attended public schools. Awarded a four-year scholarship to Swarthmore College, she earned a B.A. degree in 1974. She was awarded a graduate assistantship to Syracuse University where she received a Masters degree in Library Science (M.L.S.) in 1978.

She received her law degree from American University in 1984 and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and Ninth Circuits, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and the Court of Appeals in Maryland. She is a member of the American Bar Association.

Jones-Smith resides in Rockville, Maryland with her husband Joshua Smith. She has one stepson, Joshua II.