On the recordJanuary 7, 2016
Mr. Chairman, the only reason for the unprecedented delay in agency rulemaking--the so-called diminishing transparency of the regulatory process--is that my Republican colleagues have argued that regulatory transparency is not important with regard to public participation in the rulemaking process. In a recent rulemaking process, millions of Americans commented on a single proposed rulemaking. It represented the largest public response in history to any request for public comment in a Federal rulemaking. Just last year alone, this extensive activity hardly suggests an agency process that is shrouded in secrecy and in need of reform. {time} 1400 So with there being no evidence that consent decrees and settlements are collusion between Federal agencies and pro-human interest groups, there simply is no need for this legislation. I would ask my colleagues to vote against this, to vote it down.
