[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 51 (Tuesday, May 3, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            CONGRESS MUST MAKE SURE SMALL BUSINESSES PROSPER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Ewing] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EWING. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate having the opportunity to take a 
few minutes of the time of the House to discuss a matter which is of 
utmost importance, I think, to small business in America, and it is 
also something that has become very important to me as I have worked on 
this issue. During my election campaigns over the last 2 years, Mr. 
Speaker, I have realized, when visiting with my constituents and, in 
particular, small businesses, and that includes many independent 
business people, people who operate as individuals, not as corporations 
or partnerships, including many involved in agricultural business, that 
their major concern is that of Government regulations. They find that 
extensive Federal regulations are very intrusive into their lives and 
their businesses, that they are very expensive and that they tend to 
prevent the small independent businesses from creating jobs. We all 
know, and the statistics prove, that most new jobs in America come from 
small businesses. So, Mr. Speaker, I think it is imperative that this 
body, the Congress, and the Government of the United States do whatever 
they can to be sure that small businesses can prosper and can create 
those jobs.
  In 1980, Mr. Speaker, this Congress addressed the problems of 
excessive regulations by passing the Regulatory Flexibility Act. But 
most businesses do not know and have not felt the benefits of that 
legislation, and that is because we pretty well took all the 
effectiveness out of the Regulatory Flexibility Act when we passed it 
because we said that no one could call on the courts to enforce this 
act if the bureaucrats and the regulators chose not to do so.
  Now the provisions of this act say that the regulators are supposed 
to identify, when they do regulations, what is the cheapest, least 
intrusive way to promulgate regulations so that we do not interfere 
with the ability of business to make a profit and create jobs. 
Unfortunately we said though that, if the regulators feel that that 
would not be applicable, then they do not have to do anything, and 
oftentimes in most regulations we find a little bit of boilerplate that 
says this Regulatory Flexibility Act really does not apply, and so they 
do not do the analysis necessary to see if these regulations are going 
to be burdensome.
  Mr. Speaker, after I had talked with a number of constituents I 
decided to find out what was on the books, and of course we found the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, and we found what the problems were 
with it. Since that time we have introduced in this body H.R. 830. This 
piece of legislation has 251 cosponsors, many from both sides of the 
aisle. It is supported by a coalition of over 40 small business groups 
who are very anxious to see this bill approved.
  Now what is the problem? One might say, ``Well, if you have over 250 
cosponsors and you have all these business groups supporting it, why 
can't this bill get approval? The Senate has passed a similar measure 
on the competitiveness bill.''
  Well, that is a good question, Mr. Speaker, and I think many of my 
constituents would say, ``Why doesn't this Congress act? Why don't they 
take up this bill in the Judiciary Committee? Why don't they pass this 
bill out and let the full House vote on it?''
  Because we, many of us, believe that it is disservice to our 
constituents.

                              {time}  1420

  Mr. Speaker, I think it concerns me that a bill can have 250 
cosponsors and not get called in committee. No wonder we have had major 
changes in our discharge petition regulations in this House. No wonder 
we are going to get more and more discharge petitions if legislation 
with that many cosponsors cannot get approved and sent to the floor for 
our consideration.
  I am here today to talk to this body, the House of Representatives, 
about the need to move this piece of legislation and to say that any 
other bill that has that many cosponsors should have an opportunity to 
be debated in this House, to have a vote in this House, and to give the 
people we represent a chance to see representative government working 
for them, for our economy, for America.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that others, including the leadership, will take 
this to heart.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Coppersmith). Under the previous order 
the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Michel] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MICHEL Mr. Speaker, the following recorded votes were taken on 
May 3, 1994 in the Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations of the 
Committee on Education and Labor during consideration of Chairman 
Williams' substitute proposal for H.R. 3600, the Health Security Act of 
1994:
  First, a Substitute amendment by Mrs. Roukema to the chairman's mark 
includes provisions of H.R. 3080 (Michel) within the jurisdiction of 
the Committee on Education and Labor and additional provisions 
providing for universal access to health coverage including Pooled 
Employer Health Programs and State-based Voluntary Accessible Health 
Programs. Amendment was defeated 10-16.

       Democrats:
       Mr. Williams, Nay.
       Mr. Ford (ex officio).
       Mr. Clay, Nay.
       Mr. Kildee, Nay.
       Mr. Miller (CA), Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Owens, Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Martinez, Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Payne, Nay by proxy.
       Mrs. Unsoeld, Nay by proxy.
       Mrs. Mink, Nay.
       Mr. Klink, Nay.
       Mr. Murphy, Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Engel, Nay.
       Mr. Becerra, Nay.
       Mr. Green, Nay by proxy.
       Mrs. Woolsey, Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Nay.
       Republicans:
       Mrs. Roukema, Yea.
       Mr. Goodling (ex officio), Yea.
       Mr. Gunderson, Yea.
       Mr. Armey, Yea.
       Mr. Barrett, Yea.
       Mr. Boehner, Yea.
       Mr. Fawell, Yea.
       Mr. Ballenger, Yea.
       Mr. Hoekstra, Yea.
       Mr. McKeon, Yea.

  Second, an amendment by Mr. Engel and Mr. Martinez allowing State and 
local government health plans having 5,000 or more full-time employees 
to elect to be treated as a corporate alliance, experience rated plan, 
or to be treated as other nonexperience-rated-plan employers whose 
employees are covered under a State-based community rating area, 
voluntary or mandatory purchasing cooperative, or single-payer system. 
The amendment was adopted 17-9.

       Democrats:
       Mr. Williams, Yea.
       Mr. Ford (ex officio).
       Mr. Clay, Yea.
       Mr. Kildee, Yea.
       Mr Miller (CA), Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Owens, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Martinez, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Payne, Yea by proxy.
       Mrs. Unsoeld, Yea by proxy.
       Mrs. Mink, Yea.
       Mr. Klink, Yea.
       Mr. Murphy, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Engel, Yea.
       Mr. Becerra, Yea.
       Mr. Green, Yea by proxy.
       Mrs. Woolsey, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Yea.
       Republicans:
       Mrs. Roukema, Nay.
       Mr. Goodling (ex officio) Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Gunderson, Nay.
       Mr. Armey, Nay.
       Mr. Barrett, Nay.
       Mr. Boehner, Nay.
       Mr. Fawell, Yea.
       Mr. Ballenger, Nay.
       Mr. Hoekstra, Nay by proxy.
       Mr. McKeon, Nay.

  Third, an amendment by Mr. Owens to reduce cost-sharing to $1 to $2 
per service for households with incomes up to 150 percent of poverty 
and to help defray the costs of the amendment by increasing the 
individual annual catastrophic cost limit from $1,500 to $2,500 and by 
a 1.5 percent premium increase for non-subsidized households and non-
subsidized employers. Amendment was defeated 12-15.

       Democrats:
       Mr. Williams, Nay.
       Mr. Ford (ex officio), Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Clay, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Kildee, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Miller (CA), Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Owens, Yea.
       Mr. Martinez, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Payne, Yea by proxy.
       Mrs. Unsoeld, Nay.
       Mrs. Mink, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Klink, Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Murphy, Nay by proxy.
       Mr. Engel, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Becerra, Yea.
       Mr. Green, Yea.
       Mrs. Woolsey, Yea by proxy.
       Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Yea by proxy.

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