[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                            CRA RESOLUTIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on one final matter, earlier today, 
President Trump signed into law a Congressional Review Act resolution 
that repealed a particularly egregious overreach by President Obama's 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Federal regulators found a 
loophole, skipped the standard period for review and public comment, 
and issued unilateral guidance that made life needlessly complicated 
for the American auto industry and its customers.
  Thanks to Senator Toomey's tenacity, the GAO ruled that this 
intrusion did indeed constitute rulemaking that ought to be subject to 
congressional review. So Congress got to have its say. Accountability 
won out in the end. Thanks to this resolution from Senator Moran, yet 
another onerous regulation is now headed to the wastebasket.
  Our record use of CRAs is just one of the tools Republicans are using 
to get Washington out of the way of American workers and job creators. 
Republican tax reform is providing historic tax cuts for middle-class 
families and small businesses, and it repealed the individual mandate 
penalty at the heart of ObamaCare.
  Tomorrow, the House will vote on the Senate-passed legislation 
championed by Senator Crapo, which will give community banks and credit 
unions relief from the crushing burden of complying with Dodd-Frank.
  Of course, in the executive branch, the President's team has turned 
the page on the last administration's hostility toward American 
business. The result is a palpable shift that is improving the entire 
economy.
  Back in 2013, more than three-quarters of U.S. manufacturers said 
that a hostile climate due to taxes and regulation was a major business 
obstacle. Three-quarters of the U.S. manufacturers said that in 2013. 
Today, 16 months into the unified Republican government, fewer than 20 
percent say that. It went from 75 percent who were concerned about 
taxes and regulations in 2013 down to 20 percent today. Nearly 95 
percent are optimistic about their future economic prospects.
  Everyone is taking notice. Here is a New York Times headline from a 
few months ago: ``The Trump Effect: Business, Anticipating Less 
Regulation, Loosens Purse Strings.'' That is from the New York Times.
  One Texas homebuilder told reporters, ``It's an overall sense that 
you are not going to face any new regulatory fights.''
  There is more investment, more prosperity, more job openings, and 
higher wages all across the country. Good things happen when Republican 
policies get Washington out of the American people's way.

                          ____________________