“Consumidor somos todos nós”. Presidente John F. Kennedy.
Eis a íntegra da mensagem especial enviada, em 15 de março de 1962, pelo Presidente John F. Kennedy ao Congresso dos Estados Unidos sobre a Proteção dos interesses do Consumidores. A referida mensagem é considerado o marco inicial do Direito do Consumidor. To the Congress of the United States: Consumers, by definition, include us all. They are the largest economic group in the economy, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. Two-thirds of all spending in the economy is by consumers. But they are the only important group in the economy who are not effectively organized, whose views are often not heard. The federal Government–by nature the highest spokesman for all the people–has a special obligation to be alert to the consumer’s needs and to advance the consumer’s interests. Ever since legislation was enacted in 1872 to protect the consumer from frauds involving use of the U.S. mail, the Congress and Executive Branch have been increasingly aware of their responsibility to make certain that our Nation’s economy fairly and adequately serves consumers’ interests. In the main, it has served them extremely well. Each succeeding generation has enjoyed both higher income and a greater variety of goods and services. As a result our standard of living is the highest in the world–and, in less than 20 years, it should rise an additional 50 percent.
