[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13164]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    DEMAND FOR TRANSPARENCY IN THE REGULATORY AND RULEMAKING PROCESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Hardy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in order to address a concern 
that anyone who has ever owned or has run a business truly 
understands--the negative effects of unchecked government regulations 
on our American economy.
  No matter how large or small, Federal regulations are being added 
each day into law by the hundreds--and even sometimes by the 
thousands--most of which are not directly approved by Congress.
  By allowing Washington bureaucrats to continue to stuff the 
overwhelming number of regulations into congressionally passed 
legislation, we are essentially handing over authority to the Federal 
agencies for them to legislate as they please. It is our job in 
Congress to oversee these regulations as they are being generated in 
order to provide that our constituents are not left behind.
  During this Congress, we have made great strides in reforming the 
regulations process in order to help the economy grow. A great example 
of that occurred yesterday with the passage of the REINS Act. There 
should be no question that any regulation that makes an annual impact 
of $100 million on the economy should require congressional approval 
before it can become law.
  As my colleagues are aware, a copy of the day's Federal Register is 
delivered to each of our offices daily. This book provides a hard copy 
of every new regulation that ranges from environmental protection to 
labor standards, to health guidelines, to restrictions on financial 
institutions.
  Last year, the Federal Register contained over 77,000 pages, with 
3,554 new regulations. Even though this large number of pages is 
absurd, it was only the sixth highest page count in the Federal 
Register's history. As of this morning, the 2015 Federal Register sits 
at over 45,000 pages.
  It is unthinkable to me that the most important document--the 
Constitution--can fit on 39 pages, in this little book. In comparison, 
this is the July 13 edition of the Federal Register. It is 627 pages, 
and it is only one of three editions from that day alone.
  Mr. Speaker, when is enough enough, and when does it become too much?
  The continual expansion of our government through a vast number of 
regulations causes our economy to become as shaky and unstable as the 
Federal Registers that are stacked up in my office from this year, 
which is unacceptable and very concerning.
  An even larger issue comes from how the general public is made aware 
of these proposed rules and the opportunity to voice one's concerns on 
the rules. While we are provided with a daily index of rules and new 
regulations through the Federal Register, the American taxpayers, for 
whom we work, are left in the dark.
  Since these regulations do not take into account the economic impact 
that is placed on American businesses and families, each new regulation 
can lead to lower wages, job losses, and higher prices for goods. In 
2014, Federal regulations cost American families an estimated $1.88 
trillion in financial burden, representing, roughly, $15,000 per 
household. This cost is also larger than Canada's economy, is larger 
than Mexico's economy, and is larger than the economies of Australia, 
Russia, Spain, and South Korea, just to name a few. In fact, the 
economies of only nine nations in the world are larger than the cost of 
our regulations.
  Although all sized businesses and industries feel the effects of 
government regulations, it is the small businesses that face greater 
adversity from regulations due to costs attributed to comply. In 
addition to compliance costs, limited comment periods, and a lack of 
information pertaining to how they make their opinions heard, business 
owners are usually those who end up being left out in the cold.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in demanding more transparency in the 
regulatory and rulemaking process because it is our duty to our 
constituents.

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