[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 106 (Thursday, June 28, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1438-E1439]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 27, 2007

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2829) making 
     appropriations for financial services and general government 
     for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Chairman, I support the Miller-Sanchez amendment to 
H.R. 2829, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations 
Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The Miller-Sanchez amendment would prohibit 
OMB from using the funds appropriated in this bill to implement 
Executive Order 13422.
  Executive Order 13422 was issued on January 18, 2007. The 
Administration's rationale for this Executive Order, which amends 
Executive Order 12866, is that it will improve the way the government 
does business. What this Executive Order really does is to create new 
opportunities for politicization and delay in the regulatory process 
and make it harder for agencies to take virtually any action.
  This Executive Order makes a significant change in policy by giving 
OMB authority over agency guidance documents. Agencies issue guidance 
for a variety of reasons such as providing safety warnings or helping 
the public understand how to comply with a particular requirement. 
Agencies will now have to get OMB approval of any guidance document 
that is considered ``significant.'' This means that OMB will have the 
opportunity to second-guess the decisions of agency experts and that 
agencies will be delayed in, or blocked from, getting important 
information out to the public.
  Executive Order 13422 also requires agencies to designate a 
presidential appointee as a ``Regulatory Policy Officer'' who will have 
significant authority. Unless specifically authorized by the agency 
head, an agency cannot

[[Page E1439]]

``commence'' a rulemaking without the approval of the Regulatory Policy 
Officer. This means that a political appointee will be in the powerful 
position of vetoing or indefinitely delaying a rule, even when the rule 
is needed to carry out Congress' directives. This will slow down agency 
action even further and invite the politicization of agency decisions.
  Executive Order 13422 will make it harder for agencies to issue 
common sense safeguards to protect health, safety, and the environment. 
With the Miller-Sanchez amendment, Congress is sending the message that 
this is not a good way to govern. I urge my colleagues to support the 
Miller-Sanchez amendment.

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