Cass Ballenger: “Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2877 amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act to prohibit the use of enforcement measures, such…”

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2877 amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act to prohibit the use of enforcement measures, such as numbers of citations and penalties, for evaluating OSHA compliance officers. Mr. Speaker, few other Federal agencies have had the negative reputation among employers, hardly ever anybody with the reputation of OSHA. There are certainly those who would say that this attitude simply reflects the employer's lack of concern for the health and safety of their employees. As a businessman, I do not believe that myself. Instead, I think the problem has been with OSHA. I would note my agreement with the statement made by Vice President Gore that he made to hundreds of small business owners and representatives in 1995 at the White House Conference on Small Business, where he said, I know that OSHA has been the subject of more small business complaints than any other agency. And I know that it is not because you don't care about keeping your workers safe. It is because the rules are too rigid and the inspections are often adversarial.”