On the recordApril 2, 2014
The gentleman mentioned the Affordable Care Act, and you mentioned a phone and a pen. I would encourage all Americans to use their phone and to use their pen to let the other parts of our government know where you stand and know that you do want to see some action taking place. We are a Nation of laws, and we should live by the rule of law. It is very difficult for the American people to understand when certain laws are passed and signed by the President and then just changed as though it is a menu, you can just select which laws you want to enforce. That makes it very difficult for the American people to understand, and it makes our job more difficult, too, as we go ahead and pass laws. While we are talking about some of the things that we have done here in the House, both in the 112th and in the 113th Congress, we passed the REINS Act. For those who aren't familiar with the REINS Act, basically what it does is it brings more power back into Congress and into those who represent you. It gives you a voice. We have established, over the years, many agencies where we have empowered those agencies, and we have empowered the people within the agencies to make the decisions, and often, it is punitive, regulatory decisions that they are making, so this makes it very difficult for our businesses. What the REINS Act does is it says that, if a regulation has a negative economic impact of over $100 million, then it has to be approved by Congress.…
