[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 37 (Thursday, March 20, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E537-E538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OHSA: THE TIME IS NOW

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOEL HEFLEY

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 20, 1997

  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to reform 
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA]. This 
legislation is exactly the same as H.R. 707, which I introduced during 
the 104th Congress. H.R. 707 had 19 cosponsors, including 2 full 
committee chairman and several subcommittee chairman.
  Since 1970 OSHA has been tasked with the duty of maintaining safe and 
healthy workplaces. I intensely support them in this effort and I think 
you would be hard pressed to find a Member of Congress who didn't. 
However, OSHA's directive to carry out this task through mandatory 
standards enforced by surprise inspections and fines need to be 
rethought. My bill will move OSHA from a heavyhanded enforcement 
bureaucracy to a compliance based cooperative agency. By relieving OSHA 
from its ``gotcha'' mentality, I believe we can create even safer 
workplaces.
  Every Member of Congress has heard about some of the OSHA's 
ridiculous regulations and tactics from their constituents. It's time 
to send

[[Page E538]]

a message to the agency and to employers that OSHA's sole purpose is 
ensuring that safety of employees through common sense regulation. What 
better way to do that than to bring the two sides together. The ``us 
against them'' mentality doesn't do anyone any good. My legislation 
puts both the enforcers and the stakeholders on an even playing field 
in order to protect our most valuable resource: our work force.
  Please join me in this effort by cosponsoring my OSHA Reform Act of 
1997.

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