[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 152 (Friday, December 12, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE 
                             UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 11, 2014

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, together with my colleagues--
the Honorable Bob Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; 
the Honorable Spencer Bachus, Chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law; and the Honorable 
Henry C. ``Hank'' Johnson, Jr., Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on 
Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust--to recognize the 50th 
anniversary of the Administrative Conference of the United States.
  Every year, federal agencies issue thousands of regulations that 
concern the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the autos we drive. 
Although regulations play a role in myriad aspects of our daily lives, 
there is no independent, nonpartisan entity--other than the 
Administrative Conference of the United States--that exists 
specifically so that Congress can call upon it to evaluate ways to 
improve the regulatory process.
  This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Administrative Conference 
of the United States, an independent federal agency tasked by Congress 
to make recommendations intended to improve the administrative process 
and to provide nonpartisan expert advice. Over the course of its 
existence, many of these recommendations have been enacted into law or 
voluntarily implemented by federal agencies and the federal judiciary. 
As a result of the Conference's excellent work, our Nation's federal 
administrative procedures are not only looked to as a standard around 
the world, but constantly in the course of additional improvement.
  From its inception in 1964, the Conference has provided invaluable 
guidance to all three branches of government, including federal 
agencies, Congress, and the federal judiciary--about how to make the 
regulatory process more responsive, efficient, and cost-effective. 
Members of the Conference are drawn from executive and judicial 
branches of the federal government, academia, as well as from the 
private sector.
  Congress has assigned the Conference important responsibilities in 
the implementation of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act, the 
Negotiated Rulemaking Act, the Equal Access to Justice Act, the 
Congressional Accountability Act, and the Magnusson-Moss Warranty-
Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act. In addition, the Conference 
has facilitated judicial review of agency decisions and helped 
eliminate various technical impediments to such review. And, the 
Conference helps save taxpayer dollars. Just one agency alone--the 
Social Security Administration--estimated that the Conference's 
recommendation to change that agency's appeals process would result in 
approximately $85 million in savings.
  In recognition of its many accomplishments, the Conference has 
enjoyed broad bipartisan and bicameral support over the years. 
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the initial legislation creating 
the Conference into law in 1964, and President George W. Bush 
reauthorized the Conference in 2008. Similarly, the Conference is 
supported by the private sector and advocacy groups across the 
political spectrum.
  United States Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin 
Scalia have testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary in 
support of the Conference and its work on not just one, but two highly 
historic occasions. Justice Breyer, for example, cited the Conference's 
``unique'' role in identifying ways to improve the federal regulatory 
process. He explained in 2004, prior to the Conference's revival in 
2010:

       Given the Conference's rather low cost (a small central 
     staff, commissioning academic papers, endless amounts of 
     volunteered private time, and two general meetings a year), 
     it is indeed a pity that by abolishing this Conference, we 
     have weakened our federal government's ability to respond 
     effectively, in this general way, to the problems of its 
     citizens.
       I have not found other institutions readily available to 
     perform this same task. Individual agencies, while trying to 
     reform themselves, sometimes lack the ability to make cross-
     agency comparisons. The American Bar Association's 
     Administrative Law Section, while a fine institution, cannot 
     call upon the time and resources of agency staff members and 
     agency heads as readily as could the Administrative 
     Conference. Congressional staffs cannot as easily conduct the 
     technical research necessary to develop many of the 
     Conference's more technical proposals. The Office of 
     Management and Budget does not normally concern itself with 
     general procedural proposals.

  Justice Scalia also described the Conference's ``unique'' 
characteristics. Citing its ``combination of talents from the academic 
world, from within the executive branch . . . and, . . . from the 
private bar, especially lawyers particularly familiar with 
administrative law,'' he observed, ``I did not know another 
organization that so effectively combined the best talent from each of 
those areas.'' In sum, Justice Scalia said that ACUS was ``obviously . 
. . a worthwhile organization'' and that it was ``an enormous 
bargain.''
  Accordingly, we are pleased to mark the 50th anniversary of the 
Conference and to express our continued support for its very important 
work.

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