[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 114 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               REINS ACT

  (Mr. WENSTRUP asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, we are at a point where an unannounced, 
unplanned, and largely unconstitutional fourth branch of government has 
taken root. Dominated by unelected bureaucrats, these Federal 
departments and agencies are churning out rules and regulations at an 
unprecedented pace.
  According to one study, Federal agencies finalized nearly 3,000 rules 
and over 60 major regulations in 2007. That same year, Congress enacted 
138 public laws.
  To this end, one of the first bills I cosponsored upon being sworn in 
as a Member of Congress was the REINS Act, H.R. 367, and I'm pleased to 
have voted for it today. The bill increases accountability and creates 
transparency in the Federal regulatory process by requiring Congress to 
approve all new major regulations. With the REINS Act, no longer will 
bureaucrats in the fourth branch go unchecked, and the constitutional 
balance our Founders deliberately drafted would be restored.
  I will continue to fight for a government that is smaller, more 
efficient, more streamlined, and more responsive to hardworking 
taxpayers.

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