Marietta S. Robinson and Ann Marie Buerkle

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is once again comprised of five Commissioners.  Marietta S. Robinson and Ann Marie Buerkle have been sworn in as Commissioners and have joined Chairman Inez Tenenbaum, Commissioner Nancy Nord, and Commissioner Robert Adler on the Commission.

“I extend a very warm welcome to Marietta Robinson and Ann Marie Buerkle to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,” said Chairman Tenenbaum.  “Both Ms. Robinson and Ms. Buerkle have extensive legal and public policy experience and will be an asset to the Commission.  I look forward to working with them.”

President Barack Obama nominated Ms. Robinson on January 24, 2013, she was confirmed by the Senate on June 27, 2013, and was officially sworn in on July 2, 2013 to a term that expires in October 2017.

“I am deeply honored and very excited about working with the other Commissioners and the very talented CPSC staff to continue the important work of this agency. I think my background will help me make a significant contribution,” said Commissioner Robinson.  

President Barack Obama nominated Ms. Buerkle on May 23, 2013, she was confirmed by the Senate on June 27, 2013, and was officially sworn in on July 5, 2013 to a term that expires in October 2018.

“I am honored and look forward to working with the other Commissioners to accomplish the mission of this agency. I look forward to using my background in health care as a basis for what we do at CPSC,” said Commissioner Buerkle.

Ms. Robinson practiced as a trial attorney for 35 years, handling a wide variety of complex litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants.  She is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers and served as its first female president from 2010 to 2011. In 2011, Ms. Robinson served as independent legal counsel to the Chair of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission in Liberia.  Ms. Robinson served from 1989 to 1997 as a federally-appointed trustee of the Dalkon Shield Trust, which disbursed more than $2.4 billion to more than 300,000 claimants in over 120 countries.  She has taught as an adjunct professor at several law schools over the years and, most recently, at the Duke School of Law.

She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Michigan Bar, and in 2000 was the Democratic nominee for the Michigan Supreme Court.  In 2009, Ms. Robinson was an appointed member of the Judicial Advisory Committee for the Eastern District of Michigan and from 1985 to 1989 she served on the Michigan State Building Authority. She also served as a member of the Michigan State Bar Representative Assembly.

Ms. Robinson earned a B.A. with High Distinction from the University of Michigan-Flint and a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.

Ms. Robinson was married for 28 years to the late James K. Robinson, former AAG of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; has two stepchildren, Dr. Steven J. Robinson, of Flint, Michigan, and Renee Robinson Stromberg, of Stockholm, Sweden; and five grandchildren.

Ms. Buerkle served as the U.S. Representative of New York’s 25^th Congressional District from 2011 to 2013.  During her time in Congress, Ms. Buerkle served as the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health of the Veterans Affairs Committee; Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade of the Foreign Affairs Committee; and Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  She was also selected to serve as a United States Representative to the 66^th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations from 2011 to 2012.

Previously, Ms. Buerkle served one term on the Syracuse, N.Y. Common Council and she was an Assistant Attorney General for the state of New York from 1997 to 2009. Earlier in her career, she practiced law in a private firm from 1994 to 1997. She began her career as a registered nurse at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.   

Ms. Buerkle received a B.S. from Le Moyne College and a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law.

Ms. Buerkle is the very proud mother of six children and 14 grandchildren.