Gilbert Gutknecht: “I rise in support of H.R. 3824, but I want to talk just for a few moments about the history and how the United States…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 3824, but I want to talk just for a few moments about the history and how the United States got into this business. About 10 years ago, there was a walkway at a hotel down in Kansas City that collapsed. Many believed that the reason was faulty fasteners. It is interesting that that was the motivation of getting us into the business of regulating the manufacture of fasteners. The truth of the matter is when the final study was done, it was not the result of faulty fasteners even in the first place. Mr. Speaker, let me just read a paragraph from a letter from Mr. Bruce Josten from the United States Chamber of Commerce. This is the middle paragraph: "The Fastener Quality Act sought to ensure the quality of industrial fasteners by requiring uniform inspections and testing by the National Institute of Standards and Technology accredited laboratories. Despite its enactment in 1990, its emanating regulations have not been implemented due to the enormous difficulty in fulfilling the Act's requirements and its attendant burdens and costs to manufacturers, particularly small businesses and consumers."”