Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 712, the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2015. Rather than bringing sunshine into the rulemaking process, it throws an after-midnight shade on this process. In fact, the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act pulls the plug on regulations that are in place to protect the health, safety, and well-being of the people. This misnomered legislation should be renamed the ``Bedtime for Consent Decrees and Settlements Act.'' Another great name is the ``Leave Volkswagen Alone Act.'' Title I of H.R. 712 imposes numerous burdensome procedural requirements on agencies and courts, requirements that are designed to hamstring and to ultimately prevent the use of consent decrees and settlements that ensure the enforcement of the law. Proponents of this provision argue that it is necessary because Federal agencies collude with pro-regulatory plaintiffs to advance a mutually agreed-upon regulatory agenda through the use of consent decrees and settlement agreements. According to my Republican colleagues, this so-called sue and settle litigation specifically allows agencies to skirt the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act to dictate the contents of an agency rulemaking or to bind agency action. Sadly, however, the majority has not put forth a single dust particle of credible evidence to support this claim.…”