On the recordJanuary 11, 2017
Mr. Chairman, most members of the public don't know what a rule is. Rules are laws made by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. We collected 4 years' worth of Daily Registers in my office. Those are executive orders, rules, proposed rules, changes to rules. I ask people how big they think the stack is. I get answers 4 feet, 6 feet, 7 feet. Well, actually, in 4 years' time, the stack was 7 stacks over my head--over 70 linear feet of laws made by unelectable, unaccountable people. The public thinks we make the laws. Most of the laws we don't make. We allow unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to make the laws; and the very least we can do to protect the public is ensure that we have transparency and accountability for their procedures, and that is exactly what this amendment does. Mr. Chairman, before I close, I include in the Record a letter from a leading policy research institution that highlights the need for legislation like my amendment that will improve the public peer review process in our Federal agencies. Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies, Washington, DC, January 11, 2017. Re Republic Peer Review. Speaker Paul Ryan, Washington, DC. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Washington, DC. Dear Speaker Ryan and Minority Leader Pelosi: As both of you know first-hand, developing and implementing good public policy is no easy task.…





