John Mica: “let me say I appreciate the extension of time, and also the opportunity to talk about risk assessment, because this is…”

“let me say I appreciate the extension of time, and also the opportunity to talk about risk assessment, because this is probably the last frontal attack on risk assessment before the House of Representatives. As my colleagues know, this issue came before the House in the last Congress and we were denied an opportunity to bring this forth in the form of a complete piece of legislation. It was never voted on as far as affecting all regulatory items before the Congress. Now we have the first individual bill, a regulatory bill, a regulatory reform bill, and we have an opportunity to pass good cost-benefit risk assessment language. This is in fact going to be the last assault, I believe, on risk assessment. So many of the colleagues who have come here on many occasions to vote for risk assessment will have that opportunity today. Many of the people who have come here and asked for cost-benefit analysis in the way we pass regulations in this Congress and through the agencies, the Federal Government, will have an opportunity to vote today. And once and for all we can bring common sense to a process, a regulatory process, that has been out of control, out of hand, put people out of work, out of business, out of jobs. So I urge my colleagues to come to the floor this afternoon, defeat this final amendment that proposes a frontal assault on good risk assessment language and also on cost-benefit language that is so essential to have in this clean water bill.”