Van Hollen Statement on H.R. 5856, the Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act of 2012
Washington,
Jul 26, 2012 -
Mr. Speaker, today’s legislation is an amalgam of seven dangerously misguided bills designed to shut down a breathtaking number of safeguards and protections citizens rely on — from the quality of health care seniors receive to the safety of infant formula babies drink to the benefits our veterans have earned. As former Republican Congressman Sherry Boehlert has warned: “It’s difficult to exaggerate the sweep and destructiveness of … (this) … bill.”
The core of HR 4078 proposes to freeze most regulatory action until the nation’s unemployment rate hits 6% — as if the quality of seniors’ health care, the safety of infant formula or the availability of veterans’ benefits should depend on where the nation’s unemployment rate is. Another provision of HR 4078 would block so called “midnight rules” issued in the final days of an outgoing administration — without any apparent recognition that the offshore drilling bill the majority brought to the floor of the House just yesterday was itself largely proposed as a “midnight” regulation in the final days of the Bush Administration. Still other provisions in HR 4078 would tie up the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with additional paperwork, thereby diverting already scarce resources from other critical functions, like ensuring transparency and accountability in our financial markets.
Mr. Speaker, I am not opposed to regulatory reform. Where a regulation is truly wasteful, unnecessary or duplicative, we should fix it or get rid of it. But, like the comedy of errors surrounding the numerous typos leading up to consideration of this bill, HR 4078 is a poorly conceived, hastily thrown together mess. The American people deserve better.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Congressman Chris Van Hollen
