[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           PAPERWORK AND REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2004

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                               speech of

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 18, 2004

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I speak out in opposition to H.R. 2432, 
the ``Paperwork and Regulatory Improvements Act of 2003.'' This bill 
would weaken, rather than improve, the process of developing federal 
regulations by elevating the interests of regulated industries over all 
other considerations. The bill would needlessly divert resources from 
implementing important regulations and does nothing to protect current 
public health and environmental regulations, which are under fire from 
the Bush administration. These are regulations that even the Office of 
Management and Budget has indicated have immense benefits: in September 
of 2003 an OMB study concluded that environmental regulations are well 
worth the costs they impose on industry and consumers, resulting in 
significant public health improvements and other benefits to society. 
For example, the study found that the health and social benefits of 
enforcing clean-air regulations during the past decade were five to 
seven times greater in economic terms than were the costs of complying 
with the rules. Yet the Bush administration continues to issue rules 
and guidelines that weaken the Clean Air Act.
  I strongly support the Waxman-Tierney amendment to establish an 
independent commission on the politicization of science in the 
regulatory process. The amendment responds to a growing concern among 
scientists and the environmental community that the Bush administration 
is placing politics above science. From refusing to release a report 
contradicting their views in the Klamath basin of Oregon to removing 
information on global warming in an Environmental Protection Agency 
report, this administration has shown little more than flat out 
contempt for science. Just last month we saw the Bush administration 
issue a new policy that would allow hatchery-raised salmon in the 
Pacific Northwest to be included in wild salmon population counts, 
which could have a significant impact on whether or not the species are 
listed under the Endangered Species Act. Press accounts show that this 
was done over the objection of an independent panel of scientists 
commissioned by National Marine Fisheries Service to advise them on the 
issue.
  In February of this year, 60 leading scientists--including 20 Nobel 
laureates, leading medical experts, former federal agency directors, 
and university chairs and presidents--voiced their concern over the 
misuse of science by this administration. I am deeply disappointed that 
H.R. 2432 takes us in the wrong direction by advancing a misguided 
concept that elevates the interests of regulated industries over the 
health of our communities.




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