Tim Walberg: “I thank my colleague for leading this floor debate today. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my bipartisan bill…”

“I thank my colleague for leading this floor debate today. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my bipartisan bill, H.R. 1004, the Regulatory Integrity Act of 2017. Regardless of the chatter that I believe simply confuses what we want to do in good government, this bill, H.R. 1004, is a good government transparency bill that is simple in nature and seeks to preserve the integrity of the regulatory process; specifically, the public comment period. Whether it is EPA or the Department of Labor or any other agencies or departments, they have their purpose, but they have to follow the law. The public comment period is an essential part of upholding our democratic values because it ensures that Americans will have their voices heard in the Federal Government's regulatory process. Agencies must take the comment period seriously. Unfortunately, we have seen instances where agencies seem to believe that the regulatory process is simply a perfunctory act that the agency must undertake in order to reach a prearranged outcome. This became abundantly clear during the EPA's Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, rulemaking process. During that process, Mr. Chairman, the EPA undertook a campaign to solicit support and artificially inflate the positive reaction to the WOTUS rule. The EPA used the skewed results as evidence of public support. Mr.…”