[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 140 (Thursday, September 15, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                    REGULATORY INTEGRITY ACT OF 2016

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                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 14, 2016

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5226) to 
     amend chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, to require 
     the publication of information relating to pending agency 
     regulatory actions, and for other purposes:

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to HR 5226, the 
Regulatory Integrity Act of 2016.
  The Regulatory Integrity Act seeks to bar a federal agency from 
promoting or soliciting public support for its actions, such as 
proposed regulatory rules. Under current law, agencies are already 
prohibited from spending funds on publicity or propaganda lobbying, but 
in some cases agencies may communicate with the public regarding the 
benefits of a rule. If this bill becomes law, any such action could be 
interpreted as illegal. Further troubling, the bill requires an agency 
to report each of its communications with the public on the rules about 
which the Agency has been most vocal. Such an effort will dramatically 
increase the cost of Federal rulemaking to the public.
  In my opposition to this bill, I associate myself with the remarks of 
Ranking Member Elijah Cummings who said, ``Agencies already are barred 
from engaging in `substantial grassroots lobbying campaigns' when those 
campaigns are aimed at encouraging members of the public to pressure 
Members of Congress to support the Administration or department 
legislative or appropriation proposals. The bill would require agencies 
to report to Congress every communication to the public--including 
every oral communication from an agency official--about the five 
regulatory actions the agency issued the most communications on in the 
previous year. This would be unnecessarily burdensome and likely would 
not be workable for agencies.''
  The Administration also opposes the bill, threatening a veto on the 
grounds that the measure is ``duplicative, vague, costly and puts 
unnecessary procedure requirements on agencies that would prevent them 
from efficiently performing their statutory responsibilities and 
potentially lead to a less informed public.''
  The public has a right to know how a proposed regulation will affect 
them personally and the agency issuing that regulation is uniquely 
qualified to offer the data necessary to make that determination. In 
the absence of such information, the public will be at the mercy of any 
well-funded special interest or high priced lobbyist who might want to 
defeat regulations that protect the public interest, but not their 
profits.

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