[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1911-H1912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       AMERICA NEEDS REGULATORY REFORM AND RESTRUCTURING OF OSHA

  (Mr. NORWOOD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NORWOOD. Madam Speaker, Joe Dear is at it again. I ran for 
Congress not only because imperial Washington was hopelessly out of 
touch with normal Americans, but also because many of the rules and 
regulations imperial Washington imposes on the rest of us help so 
little while costing so much. To cite one example that hits very close 
to home for me, in 1991 OSHA announced a standard on infection control 
for dental offices. OSHA projected that the annual expense of 
compliance would be $87.4 million. However, according to a recent study 
by RRC Inc., it turns out 
[[Page H1912]] that actual yearly compliance costs exceeds $2.7 
billion. The OSHA regulations ended up costing $2.7 billion, but 
produced no measurable improvement in worker safety. How I wish we had 
done a cost-benefits analysis. Madam Speaker, rarely have so few done 
so much to harm so many. This is one more example of why we need 
regulatory reform and a moratorium on new regulations until we can sort 
all this out. OSHA is one agency that needs to be restructured, 
reinvented, or just plain removed.

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