James M. Talent: “Mr. Chairman, This is a noncontroversial but very significant bill, Mr. Chairman. It is a supplement to the Paperwork…”

“Mr. Chairman, This is a noncontroversial but very significant bill, Mr. Chairman. It is a supplement to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996. We call it the Paperwork Elimination Act. What the bill does, in fine, is require that regulatory agencies give the people that they regulate, not just small businesses but everybody, the option to store and supply the information they have to supply by electronic means: modems, computers, faxes, where that is appropriate. This is done within the framework of the Paperwork Reduction Act, which we passed unanimously last year. This bill itself passed the House last year unanimously, moved over to the Senate, was discharged from committee, but never reached the Senate floor. It came out of the Committee on Small Business unanimously. It is supported by the ranking member, the gentleman from New York [Mr. LaFalce], and myself. It is a good bill and a good step forward in trying to provide some additional options to people who are trying to supply information to the government in an efficient way at as little cost as possible. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to encourage quick passage of H.R. 852, entitled the ``Paperwork Elimination Act of 1997.'' Paperwork demands of the Federal Government place a tremendous burden upon all Americans. Some estimates place the total burden at more than 6 billion hours a year.…”