Hank Johnson: “This amendment establishes additional criteria for the commission's one-sided review of all Federal regulations…”

“This amendment establishes additional criteria for the commission's one-sided review of all Federal regulations, authorizing it to identify rules for repeal that may limit or prohibit agencies from adopting technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness in order to lower regulatory costs. Although this criteria, itself, may be unobjectionable on its face, it does nothing to change the commission's cost-only, deregulatory, and dangerous mandate under title I of H.R. 1155. Furthermore, rather than allowing agencies to modify or improve existing rules to accommodate for technological changes, this amendment would only create a basis for eliminating rules. For instance, this amendment would authorize the commission to identify for elimination a rule protecting workers against discrimination, regardless of the rule's benefits, if the costs associated with the rule could be mitigated by adopting new technologies to improve efficiency. In other words, no matter how important and beneficial a rule prohibiting discrimination may be, it could be eliminated if the commission determines that it somehow encumbers agency efficiency. That is laughable.…”