On the recordFebruary 10, 2011
I commend my colleague from Texas (Mr. Sessions) and Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor and the House leadership for bringing this important resolution forward. This resolution represents the opening battle in the fight against the continued expansion and overreach of the regulatory state, that state being the Federal Government. We have just gone through 4 years of a very liberal Congress and 2 years of a very liberal administration, and working hand in hand, they have passed massive new laws that expanded government and weakened personal freedom. The 10th Amendment says that all powers not specifically granted to the Federal Government are left to the States and the people. But from health care to financial services to other sectors of the economy, Congress has ceded its constitutional responsibility to unelected and unaccountable Federal bureaucrats. Two years ago, President Obama reminded us that elections matter when he said, 'I won.' Well, Mr. Speaker, in November, the American people won. In doing so, they made it clear to anyone listening that they strenuously objected to the direction that our country has taken. They object to the limitations imposed on our freedom, on our choices, and on our ability to create jobs. This is not new. In the past as well as in the current administration, liberal Presidents who could not achieve their goals by the consent of the people have resorted to regulatory fiat to give their most extreme supporters what they want.
