[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 29, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

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                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 2009

  Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Congressional 
Responsibility and Accountability Act. This bill requires Congress to 
specifically authorize via legislation any proposed federal regulation 
that will impose costs on any individual of at least $5,000, impose 
costs on a business or other private organization of at least $10,000, 
or impose aggregate costs on the American people of at least $25,000, 
or cause any American to lose his or her job.
  According to some legal experts, at least three-quarters of all 
federal laws consist of regulations promulgated by federal agencies 
without the consent, or even the review of, Congress. Allowing 
unelected, and thus unaccountable, executive agencies to make law 
undermines democracy and violates the intent of the drafters of the 
Constitution to separate legislative and executive powers. The drafters 
of the Constitution correctly viewed separation of powers as a 
cornerstone of republican government and a key to protecting individual 
liberty from excessive and arbitrary government power.
  Congress's delegation of law-making authority to unelected 
bureaucrats has created a system that seems to owe more to the writings 
of Franz Kafka than to the writings of James Madison. The volume of 
regulations promulgated by federal agencies and the constant 
introduction of new rules makes it impossible for most Americans to 
know with any certainty the federal laws, regulations, and rules they 
are required to obey. Thus, almost all Americans live with the danger 
that they may be hauled before a federal agency for an infraction they 
have no reasonable way of knowing is against the law.
  While it is easy for members of Congress to complain about out of 
control federal bureaucrats, it was Congress that gave these agencies 
the ability to create laws. Since Congress created the problem of 
lawmaking by regulatory agencies, it is up to Congress to fix the 
problem and make certain that all federal laws are passed by the 
people's elected representatives. Therefore, Madam Speaker, I urge my 
colleagues to cosponsor the Congressional Responsibility and 
Accountability Act.

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