[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E47]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    OPPOSING THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL HORSERACING INTEGRITY AND SAFETY 
                               AUTHORITY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LANCE GOODEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 24, 2023

  Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the 
unconstitutional Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). 
During the 117th Congress, I filed an amendment to the omnibus spending 
bill to strip language from the bill that had been intended to ``fix'' 
the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, which was found 
unconstitutional by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on November 18, 
2022, because Congress had unlawfully delegated its lawmaking power to 
a private corporation called the ``Authority''. The Appeals Court said 
the Authority needed more oversight from the Federal Trade Commission 
(FTC), but the language included in the omnibus had been hastily put 
together and failed to address the underlying issue raised by the 
Appeals Court. The so-called ``fix'' still did not allow the FTC to 
make policy decisions. The FTC still may only reject rules proposed by 
the Authority if they are inconsistent with the Act, but the Act is 
written so broadly that no rule will ever be rejected. After the rules 
have gone into effect, the FTC may now issue its own rules, but it 
still may do so only to make them consistent with the Act. It cannot 
impose its own policy decisions on the Authority's rules. 
Unfortunately, my amendment did not receive a vote in this era of 
governing by omnibus, but I will be working this Congress to pass 
legislation through regular order that will fix the constitutional 
problems with HISA.

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