Katie Porter: “I think it is appropriate now, because the gentleman has covered so much of this, that we read into the Record exactly…”

“I think it is appropriate now, because the gentleman has covered so much of this, that we read into the Record exactly what we have done on the ergonomics standards. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bonilla] of our subcommittee, along with the gentleman from Texas [Mr. DeLay], took a major lead in this area and reached an agreement on what OSHA could and could not do in the next fiscal year. Let me read into the Record section 104 of the bill: ``None of the funds made available in this Act may be used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to promulgate or issue any proposed or final standard regarding ergonomic protection before September 30, 1998,'' that is for the entire fiscal year, ``provided that nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from issuing voluntary guidelines on ergonomic protection or from developing a proposed standard regarding ergonomic protection: Provided further, that no funds made available in this Act may be used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enforce voluntary ergonomic guidelines through section 5.'' I do not think the gentleman has any worry about fining anyone.”