[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 118 (Monday, July 15, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H5806-H5807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    REQUIRING SMALL BUSINESS AND AGRICULTURE REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT 
    OMBUDSMAN TO CREATE A CENTRALIZED WEBSITE FOR COMPLIANCE GUIDES

  Mr. DELGADO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2142) to amend the Small Business Act to require the Small 
Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman to create a 
centralized website for compliance guides, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2142

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. CENTRALIZED WEBSITE FOR COMPLIANCE GUIDES.

       Section 30 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:
       ``(e) Centralized Website.--Not later than 6 months after 
     the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Ombudsman 
     shall maintain a publicly available website that includes--
       ``(1) hyperlinks to small entity compliance guides 
     described under section 212(a)(1) of the Small Business 
     Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996; and
       ``(2) with respect to each such small entity compliance 
     guide, the contact information for an individual who can 
     offer assistance to small entities with respect to the rules 
     that are the subject of such guide.
       ``(f) Report on Agency Compliance.--The Ombudsman shall 
     include in the annual report required under subsection 
     (b)(2)(C) an assessment of agency compliance with the 
     requirements of section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory 
     Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 for the year covered by such 
     annual report.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Delgado) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DELGADO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DELGADO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 2142, which eases regulatory 
compliance for small businesses.
  Agencies are required by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act to publish small entity compliance guides for each rule 
requiring a regulatory flexibility analysis. That guide is supposed to 
be posted and accessible to the public no later than the day a 
rulemaking becomes effective.
  Yet, our committee continually hears from small business owners that 
they have great difficulty locating the guides. In our own 
investigation, we found that Federal agencies are inconsistent in their 
compliance with this rule.
  Small businesses don't always have the resources to navigate multiple 
agency websites to understand their responsibilities under new laws. 
Instead, they are worried about meeting payroll, hiring talented 
workers, and running day-to-day operations of their small firms.

                              {time}  1645

  This bill provides a centralized location at the SBA's Office of the 
National Ombudsman to make it easier for business owners to find agency 
regulatory compliance guides and contact information. The SBA's Office 
of the National Ombudsman was created to help the small business 
community overcome regulatory barriers and ensure that agency actions 
are fair and reasonable. Centralizing various agency compliance guides 
in this office is a logical step to provide transparency and clarity 
for small businesses.
  I want to thank Dr. Joyce for working with me to identify this issue 
and find a bipartisan solution to ensure America's small firms have a 
one-stop shop for regulatory assistance.
  I ask my fellow Members to support the bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 2142. This legislation offered by committee 
members Mr. Delgado of New York and Dr. Joyce of Pennsylvania make 
important changes to the SBA Office of the National Ombudsman that will 
make it easier for small businesses to comply with Federal regulations.
  Congress established the Office of the National Ombudsman in 1996 to 
assist small businesses, small government entities, and small 
nonprofits when they are subject to excessive enforcement by a Federal 
agency. Excessive enforcement may include repetitive audits or 
investigations, excessive fines, penalties, threats, retaliation, or 
other unfair enforcement action.
  This simple and commonsense bill would require the ombudsman to 
create a public website to provide the compliance guides required by 
section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, 
or SBREFA. Mr. Speaker, these compliance guides help small firms better 
understand how to comply with the most onerous Federal regulations. 
Housing them at one spot on the ombudsman's website is an easy way to 
save a small business a significant amount of time.
  It is a good bill. I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. DELGADO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), the ranking member of our 
Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship 
Subcommittee.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2142. H.R. 2142 is a 
commonsense bill to ease the burden that Federal regulations place on 
small businesses.
  As a small business owner myself, I can personally attest to the 
daunting feelings that are associated with new regulations. Navigating 
the bureaucracy of the Federal Government can be

[[Page H5807]]

incredibly intimidating, and I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Delgado, 
for his leadership on this issue.
  Small businesses account for 99.6 percent of the businesses in the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These businesses are truly the backbone 
of the American economy, which is why I was proud to introduce this 
legislation with my colleague from New York. This legislation takes a 
simple, yet important, step to reduce the strain that the Federal 
regulations place on small businesses and provide much-needed 
transparency.
  Any time a Federal agency is required to produce a final regulatory 
flexibility analysis on a rule, the agency is also required by section 
212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act to 
publish one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with 
the rule.
  This legislation makes already available information more easily 
accessible to small businesses by requiring the Small Business and 
Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman to create a public website 
to publish these compliance guides and list contact information for 
persons who can help small entities comply with these rules. Making 
this information publicly available on a centralized website is a 
commonsense way to ease the regulatory burden on small firms that are 
looking for assistance to comply with the Federal regulations.
  I again would like to thank Mr. Delgado for bringing this issue to my 
attention and the chairwoman and Ranking Member Chabot from Ohio for 
their commitment to advancing this bipartisan solution.
  I ask each of my colleagues to support this measure.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, this is yet another example of how our 
committee continues to work across the aisle for the benefit of 
America's small businesses. We do it in a bipartisan manner, and I want 
to thank Mr. Delgado and the doctor, as well, for their leadership on 
this.
  I urge the bill's adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DELGADO. Mr. Speaker, we know that small business owners don't 
necessarily have the resources and time to navigate multiple websites 
to fully understand their responsibilities with Federal laws. My bill 
is an important step toward reversing these problems. H.R. 2142 will 
make it easier, not harder, to comply with Federal regulations by 
providing them one location for compliance assistance.
  The ombudsman already maintains a site for guidance, but this bill 
goes one step further by requiring that they not just provide agency 
contacts, but also keep a regular, updated page of compliance guides 
readily accessible to the public. My legislation renews our commitment 
towards small business growth and success by creating transparency and 
accountability of Federal agencies.
  Again, I want to thank Dr. Joyce for cosponsoring this bill and 
putting our small businesses first.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Delgado) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2142.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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