III 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 17 

Establishing a joint select committee to address regulatory reform. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2015 

Mr. ROUNDS (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. THUNE, Mr. INHOFE, Mrs. 

CAPITO, Mr. RISCH, Mr. HOEVEN, and Ms. COLLINS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Rules and Administration 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Establishing a joint select committee to address regulatory 

reform. 

Whereas there are more than 3,500 rules issued every year 

by more than 50 Federal agencies; 

Whereas a rule is defined in section 551 of title 5, United 

States Code, as ‘‘the whole or part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or 

policy’’; 

Whereas subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 

5, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’) established standards for the 

issuance of rules using formal rulemaking and informal 

rulemaking procedures; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•SCON 17 IS 

Whereas informal rulemaking, also known as ‘‘notice and 

comment’’ rulemaking or ‘‘section 553’’ rulemaking, is 

the most common type of rulemaking; 

Whereas in rulemaking proceedings, formal hearings must be 

held and interested parties must be given the chance to 

comment on the proposed rule or regulation, and once 

adopted, the rule or regulation is required to be published 

in the Federal Register; 

Whereas, according to a 2005 study commissioned by the 

Small Business Administration, the cost of all rules in effect was approximately $1,100,000,000,000 per year, 

more than the people of the United States paid in Federal income taxes in 2009; 

Whereas, according to the 2014 Ten Thousand Commandments report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the 

top 6 Federal rulemaking agencies (which, in 2013, were 

the Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, Interior, 

Health and Human Services, and Transportation and the 

Environmental Protection Agency) account for 49.3 percent of all Federal rules; 

Whereas, according to the 2014 Ten Thousand Commandments report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, 

small businesses pay more in per-employee regulatory 

costs, and firms with fewer than 20 employees pay an average of $10,585 per employee, compared to $7,755 for 

those with 500 or more employees; 

Whereas, according to the 2014 Ten Thousand Commandments report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, 

regulatory costs amount to an average of $14,974 per 

household, which is 23 percent of the average household 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•SCON 17 IS 

income of $65,596 and 29 percent of the expenditure 

budget of $51,442; 

Whereas, according to a 2011 study by the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University, it is estimated that the 

budgetary cost of administering and enforcing Federal 

regulations by Federal agencies for fiscal year 2012 

amounted to more than $57 billion (in 2005 dollars), 

which represents a 10.5-percent increase in 2 years; 

Whereas chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 

known as the ‘‘Congressional Review Act’’) established a 

mechanism through which Congress could overturn Federal regulations by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval; 

Whereas the Congressional Review Act requires that rules 

that have a $100,000,000 effect or more on the economy 

are submitted by agencies to both Houses of Congress 

and the Government Accountability Office and have a delayed effective date of not less than 60 days to pass a 

resolution of disapproval rejecting the rule, which must 

be approved by the President; and 

Whereas, since the enactment of the Congressional Review 

Act in 1996, the procedures under the Act have been 

used 1 time to overturn a rule: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Regulation Sen5 sibility Through Oversight Restoration Resolution of 

6 2015’’ or the ‘‘RESTORE Resolution of 2015’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 SEC. 2. JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON REGULATORY RE2 FORM. 

3 There is established a joint select committee to be 

4 known as the Joint Select Committee on Regulatory Re5 form (hereinafter in this concurrent resolution referred to 

6 as the ‘‘Joint Select Committee’’). 

7 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘agen9 cy’’ and ‘‘rule’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

10 section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (b) DUTIES.—The Joint Select Committee shall— 

12 (1) conduct a systematic review of the process 

13 by which rules are promulgated by agencies; 

14 (2) hold hearings on the effects of and how to 

15 reduce regulatory overreach in all sectors of the 

16 economy; 

17 (3) conduct a review of the Code of Federal 

18 Regulations to identify rules and sets of rules that 

19 should be repealed; and 

20 (4) submit to the Senate and the House of Rep21 resentatives— 

22 (A) recommendations for legislation— 

23 (i) to create a process under which an 

24 agency, before promulgating a rule, shall— 

25 (I) seek advice from Congress; 

26 (II) publish the proposed rule; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 (III) hold a public comment pe2 riod on the proposed rule; 

3 (IV) seek advice from Congress 

4 based on the public comments; and 

5 (V) hold issuance of the rule 

6 until Congress can review the rule for 

7 a period of not more than 1 year; and 

8 (ii) to create a process to appro9 priately sunset as many rules as possible; 

10 (B) recommendations for ways to reduce 

11 the financial burden placed on the various sec12 tors of the economy in order to comply with 

13 rules; 

14 (C) an analysis of the feasibility of the cre15 ation of a permanent Joint Committee on Rules 

16 Review in accordance with subsection (c); 

17 (D) an analysis of the feasibility of requir18 ing each agency to submit each proposed rule of 

19 the agency to the appropriate committees of 

20 Congress for review in a similar manner as set 

21 forth for a permanent Joint Committee on 

22 Rules Review under subsection (c); and 

23 (E) a list of rules and sets of rules that 

24 the Joint Select Committee recommends should 

25 be repealed. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 (c) ANALYSIS OF PERMANENT JOINT COMMITTEE ON

2 RULES REVIEW.—The Joint Select Committee shall ana3 lyze the feasibility of the creation of a permanent Joint 

4 Committee on Rules Review. The Joint Committee on 

5 Rules Review would— 

6 (1) review each proposed rule that an agency 

7 determines is likely to have an annual effect on the 

8 economy of $50,000,000 or more before the agency 

9 promulgates the final rule; 

10 (2) require each agency to submit to the Com11 mittee— 

12 (A) the text of each proposed rule of the 

13 agency described in paragraph (1); and 

14 (B) an analysis of the economic impact of 

15 the rule on the economy; 

16 (3) require each agency to revise a proposed 

17 rule submitted under paragraph (2) if the Com18 mittee determines that the proposed rule— 

19 (A) needs to be significantly rewritten to 

20 accomplish the intent of the agency or address 

21 the recommendations or objections of the Com22 mittee; 

23 (B) is not a valid exercise of delegated au24 thority from Congress; 

25 (C) is not in proper form; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 (D) is inconsistent with the intent of Con2 gress with respect to the provision of law that 

3 the proposed rule implements; or 

4 (E) is not a reasonable implementation of 

5 the law; 

6 (4) delay the effective date of a proposed rule 

7 for a period of not more than 1 year beginning on 

8 the date on which the agency submits the proposed 

9 rule under paragraph (2); 

10 (5) allow an agency to promulgate a final rule 

11 without any delay in the effective date of the rule if 

12 the agency designates the rule as an emergency rule, 

13 unless the Committee by majority vote determines 

14 that the rule is not an emergency rule; and 

15 (6) if applicable, recommend that Congress 

16 should overturn a final rule promulgated by an 

17 agency by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval. 

18 SEC. 4. COMPOSITION OF JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. 

19 (a) MEMBERSHIP.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Joint Select Committee 

21 shall be composed of 30 members, of whom— 

22 (A) 15 shall be appointed by the majority 

23 and the minority leaders of the Senate from 

24 among Members of the Senate in a manner that 

25 reflects the ratio of the number of Members of 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 the Senate from the majority party to the num2 ber of Members of the Senate from the minority 

3 party on the date of enactment of this Act; and 

4 (B) 15 shall be appointed by the Speaker 

5 and the minority leader of the House of Rep6 resentatives among Members of the House of 

7 Representatives in a manner that reflects the 

8 ratio of the number of members of the House 

9 of Representatives from the majority party to 

10 the number of Members of the House of Rep11 resentatives from the minority party on the 

12 date of enactment of this Act. 

13 (2) DATE.—The appointments of the members 

14 of the Joint Select Committee shall be made not 

15 later than 30 days after the date of adoption of this 

16 concurrent resolution. 

17 (b) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Joint Select 

18 Committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled 

19 in the same manner as the original appointment. 

20 (c) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

21 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the Joint 

22 Select Committee shall elect a Chairperson for the 

23 Joint Select Committee by majority vote from each 

24 of— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 (A) the members of the majority party of 

2 the Senate; and 

3 (B) the members of the majority party of 

4 the House of Representatives. 

5 (2) VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the 

6 Joint Select Committee shall elect a Vice Chair7 person for the Joint Select Committee by majority 

8 vote from each of— 

9 (A) the members of the minority party of 

10 the Senate; and 

11 (B) the members of the minority party of 

12 the House of Representatives. 

13 (d) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

14 Joint Select Committee each from the Senate and the 

15 House of Representatives shall constitute a quorum for 

16 the purpose of conducting the business of the Joint Select 

17 Committee. 

18 SEC. 5. RULES AND PROCEDURES. 

19 (a) GOVERNANCE UNDER STANDING RULES OF THE

20 SENATE.—Except as otherwise specifically provided in 

21 this resolution, the investigations and hearings conducted 

22 by the Joint Select Committee shall be governed by the 

23 Standing Rules of the Senate. 

24 (b) ADDITIONAL RULES AND PROCEDURES.—The 

25 Joint Select Committee may adopt such additional rules 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 or procedures if the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson 

2 agree, or if the Joint Select Committee by majority vote 

3 so decides, that such additional rules or procedures are 

4 necessary or advisable to conduct the duties of the Joint 

5 Select Committee. 

6 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY OF JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Joint Select Committee may 

8 exercise all of the powers and responsibilities of a com9 mittee under rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Sen10 ate. 

11 (b) POWERS.—The Joint Select Committee may, for 

12 the purpose of carrying out this resolution— 

13 (1) hold such hearings, sit and act at such 

14 times and places, take such testimony, receive such 

15 evidence, and administer such oaths as the Joint Se16 lect Committee considers advisable; and 

17 (2) authorize and require, by issuance of sub18 poena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of 

19 witnesses and the preservation and production of 

20 books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, 

21 documents, tapes, and any other materials in what22 ever form the Joint Select Committee considers ad23 visable. 

24 (c) SUBPOENAS.—Subpoenas authorized by the Joint 

25 Select Committee— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 (1) may be issued with the joint concurrence of 

2 the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson; 

3 (2) shall bear the signature of the Chairperson 

4 and Vice Chairperson, or the designee of the Chair5 person or Vice Chairperson; and 

6 (3) shall be served by any person or class of 

7 persons designated by the Chairperson and Vice 

8 Chairperson for that purpose anywhere within or 

9 without the borders of the United States to the full 

10 extent provided by law. 

11 (d) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Joint Select 

12 Committee shall have, to the fullest extent permitted by 

13 law, access to any such information or materials obtained 

14 by any other department or agency of the Federal Govern15 ment or by any other governmental department, agency, 

16 or body investigating the matters described in section 

17 3(b). 

18 (e) COOPERATION OF OTHER COMMITTEES.—In car19 rying out the duties of the Joint Select Committee, the 

20 Joint Select Committee may obtain the input and coopera21 tion of any other standing committee of the Senate or the 

22 House of Representatives. 

23 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

25 date on which the Joint Select Committee terminates, the 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 Joint Select Committee shall submit to the Senate and 

2 the House of Representatives a report, which shall con3 tain— 

4 (1) the results and findings of the reviews and 

5 hearings carried out by the Joint Select Committee 

6 pursuant to this resolution; and 

7 (2) any information required to be submitted 

8 under section 3(b)(4). 

9 (b) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Joint Select Committee 

10 may submit to the Senate and the House of Representa11 tives such interim reports as the Joint Select Committee 

12 considers appropriate. 

13 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

14 (a) STAFF.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Joint Select Committee 

16 may employ in accordance with paragraph (2) a 

17 staff composed of such clerical, investigatory, legal, 

18 technical, and other personnel as the Joint Select 

19 Committee considers necessary or appropriate. 

20 (2) APPOINTMENT OF STAFF.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Joint Select Com22 mittee shall appoint a staff for the majority, a 

23 staff for the minority, and a nondesignated 

24 staff. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 (B) MAJORITY STAFF.—The majority staff 

2 shall be appointed, and may be removed, by the 

3 Chairperson and shall work under the general 

4 supervision and direction of the Chairperson. 

5 (C) MINORITY STAFF.—The minority staff 

6 shall be appointed, and may be removed, by the 

7 Vice Chairperson and shall work under the gen8 eral supervision and direction of the Vice Chair9 person. 

10 (D) NONDESIGNATED STAFF.—Nondes11 ignated staff shall be appointed, and may be re12 moved, jointly by the Chairperson and Vice 

13 Chairperson, and shall work under the joint 

14 general supervision and direction of the Chair15 person and Vice Chairperson. 

16 (b) COMPENSATION.— 

17 (1) MAJORITY STAFF.—The Chairperson shall 

18 fix the compensation of all personnel of the majority 

19 staff of the Joint Select Committee. 

20 (2) MINORITY STAFF.—The Vice Chairperson 

21 shall fix the compensation of all personnel of the mi22 nority staff of the Joint Select Committee. 

23 (3) NONDESIGNATED STAFF.—The Chairperson 

24 and Vice Chairperson shall jointly fix the compensaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 May 21, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SC17.IS SC17

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 tion of all nondesignated staff of the Joint Select 

2 Committee. 

3 (4) PAY AND BENEFITS.—All employees of the 

4 Joint Select Committee shall be treated as employ5 ees of the Senate for purposes of disbursing pay and 

6 processing benefits. 

7 (c) FACILITIES.—The Joint Select Committee may 

8 use, with the prior consent of the chair of any other com9 mittee of the Senate or the House of Representatives or 

10 the chair of any subcommittee of any committee of the 

11 Senate or the House of Representatives, the facilities of 

12 any other committee of the Senate or the House of Rep13 resentatives, whenever the Joint Select Committee or the 

14 Chairperson and Vice Chairperson consider that such ac15 tion is necessary or appropriate to enable the Joint Select 

16 Committee to carry out the responsibilities, duties, or 

17 functions of the Joint Select Committee under this resolu18 tion. 

19 (d) DETAIL OF EMPLOYEES.—The Joint Select Com20 mittee may use on a reimbursable basis, with the prior 

21 consent of the head of the department or agency of the 

22 Federal Government concerned and the approval of the 

23 Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, the 

24 services of personnel of the department or agency. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 (e) TEMPORARY AND INTERMITTENT SERVICES.— 

2 The Joint Select Committee may procure the temporary 

3 or intermittent services of individual consultants or orga4 nizations. 

5 (f) ETHICS.—The Joint Select Committee shall es6 tablish ethical rules for the members and employees of the 

7 Joint Select Committee, which shall, to the extent prac8 ticable, be comparable to the ethical rules that apply to 

9 employees of the Senate. 

10 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

11 expenses of the Joint Select Committee, there are author12 ized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2016, 

13 to remain available until expended. 

14 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE; TERMINATION. 

15 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This resolution shall take ef16 fect on the date of adoption of this concurrent resolution. 

17 (b) TERMINATION.—The Joint Select Committee 

18 shall terminate on the date that is 1 year after the ap19 pointment of the members of the Joint Select Committee. 

20 (c) DISPOSITION OF RECORDS.—Upon termination of 

21 the Joint Select Committee, the records of the Joint Select 

22 Committee shall become the records of any committee or 

23 committees designated by the majority leader of the Sen24 ate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
16 

•SCON 17 IS 

1 the concurrence of the minority leader of the Senate and 

2 the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS