A new study released by Reps. Henry A. Waxman and Stephen F. Lynch shows that the federal paperwork burden has grown to record levels under the Bush Administration, with the new Medicare prescription drug program adding over 200 million hours of government red tape.

Over the last five years, total government paperwork has grown to 8.7 billion hours per year. This is 1.3 billion more hours of government paperwork than in the final year of the Clinton Administration. This year, the average adult in the United States will spend almost an entire work week (39 hours) filling out government paperwork.

Statutory changes promoted by President Bush and enacted by Congress are major causes of the increased paperwork burden. Over half the increase in paperwork from 2004 -- 224 million hours -- is attributable to the complicated new Medicare prescription drug program. This is equivalent to approximately 10 hours of government paperwork for every person enrolled in the Medicare drug plan. Tax law changes and other recent legislation have also added hundreds of millions of hours of new government paperwork.