[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 57 (Thursday, April 19, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE VOICE OF TEXAS--THE REGULATORS V. SUSAN

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, it's a new day in Washington, and 
soon the unelected, unaccountable regulators will be sending out new 
rules to the people.
  The fourth branch of government meddles in every aspect of our lives. 
In the name of saving us from ourselves, they regulate, regulate, 
regulate without regard to the consequences of these expensive 
government mandates. Sometimes they put businesses out of business. 
Susan, a small business owner in Texas, wrote me this:

       Our small business has operated on a shoestring for several 
     years, and we started in 1978, but I fear we are at an end. 
     We manufacture 400 products, all made from the same 
     materials. The new product safety regulations require that we 
     certify every product to the tune of about $500 per product, 
     even though they're all made from the same materials. Do the 
     math: $175,000 or more just to get these products that we've 
     made since '78 certified. Add on the health care fines and 
     the rising cost of gasoline and the rising property and sales 
     and income taxes--well, you know the rest of the story.

  Madam Speaker, the regulators close the doors of small businesses 
like Susan's, and that ought not to be.
  And that's just the way it is.

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