James M. Jeffords: “I rise today to address S.J. Res. 6, which provides for congressional disapproval of the Occupational Safety and Health…”

“I rise today to address S.J. Res. 6, which provides for congressional disapproval of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's recently promulgated ergonomics standard. This action is being taken pursuant to the Congressional Review Act provisions incorporated into the APA in 1996. If successful, it will be the first time that the CRA has been used to invalidate an agency regulation. It will send a strong message to Federal agencies that Congress is serious that the intent of the CRA--that agencies issue more flexible and less burdensome rules, and be more responsive, and open, to input from the regulated public--is followed. I will leave it to my colleagues to discuss the numerous problems with the Clinton Administration's regulation, such as its flawed rulemaking process, its extraordinary potential costs, its encroachment on state administered workers compensation programs, and its complexities and vagueness to the point of unworkability. I have to note, however, that the ergonomics rule certainly qualifies as a ``midnight'' regulation, which is exactly the sort of rulemaking that, in great part, led to enactment of the CRA.”