Date: 2013-08-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his distinguished leadership and friendship. and the chairman of the full committee. because I believe that it is fair to have a difference of opinion. It is also fair to say that there are times when we have a great opportunity to work together. I believe the gentleman mentioned my tenure on the Judiciary Committee. so let me document for my colleagues: the REINS Act goes around and around and around and around. It is constantly repeated and reintroduced. and it constantly fails. For the new Members. my friends on the other side of the aisle who are standing up and talking about what a great impact this would have. they are using old data and misinterpretation. for there is no real documentation that the REINS Act is going to stop $1.5 trillion in excess cost. In fact. the authors of the study that my friends are usingthe study was assessed by the Congressional Research Service. I know when I speak to the American people and my colleagues they want to debunk all of this procedure and say "enough is enough." But the CRS showed that the study was flawed. but more importantly. the author said: "We never intended for this to determine benefits to regulation. Our studies have nothing to do with it." We cannot document the $1.5 trillion or the billions of dollars that our friends say that theyre going to lose. They know full well that there is a procedure of disapproval that Congress can respond to the needs and the questions of the American public. What they do not tell you is that this procedureoh. I hate to talk about it. Please let me apologize. If you hear it. your eyes will roll back in your head. for what has to happen now is that the agency is doing its work. The DOD. Health and Human Services. the Department of Education are doing their work under existing law. They are trying to work on clean air and clean water. safe toys. safe cars. and safe workplaces. By the way. I offered an amendment to exempt childrens regulations for babies who are 2 and under. and I was denied by the majority. by the Republican Rules Committee. so that babies who need safe cribs and toys now have to have this happen. Unless both Houses of Congress pass a joint resolutionlet me tell you how long that might take2 years. 3 years. five sessions. who knowsand then such rule within a fixed 70- legislative -day period. it kicks over into the next Congress. In the meantime. babies heads are driven through cribs. Those of us who are mothers know that era. It hasnt stopped. Each time. you have to look at the technology of cribsor of toys that they choke onand be able to discern how newborns are impacted. The Consumer Product Safety Commission cant effectively put a regulation in. Mothers understand that. Can you imagine a resolution of two Houses of Congress? Right now. we cant even get a budget resolution going forward. I will tell you what the American people want us to do. Its not the REINS Act. which goes around and around. I think it was in the 112th Congress and in the 111th Congress. We are now in the 113th. and we will do it in the 114th. It does not save money. The American people want a solutionbased budgeting process. They want us to go back to the budget reconciliation. They want us to stop laying off. as my good friend from Connecticut said. hardworking Defense workers. hardworking Homeland Security workers. hardworking Department of Education workers. who are trying to help this country be better. They want us to reduce the deficit. I will raise my hand for that. That is a good thing. They want us to create jobs. and they want us to be fair to the middle class. I come from Texas. One of the worst disasters ever to occur was in West. Texasthe tragedy and the devastation of the loss of our fellow Americans in an explosion that should not have happened. What was the cry? What was the Federal Government doing? What was the regulatory scheme in order to prevent whatever ignited that terrible tragedy to see the loss of first responders? The Federal Government is an umbrella on a rainy day. Fix the problems of regulation one by one. If there is one that is undermining small businesses. we are happy to do the disapproval process. and you can be assured that the voices of the American people will cry out. I can tell you that there is no proofno legitimacy. no documentationbut anecdotal stories of. I hate the Federal Government. I dont hate the Federal Government. I pledge allegiance to this great flag and to this great Nation. I love my country. Therefore. I understand that it is the umbrella on a rainy day. The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.