James Lankford

One of the big issues facing the entire country is the amount of fentanyl coming through the mail at this point.

Significant regulations have obviously significantly slowed as well under this Administration.

When you talk to a small business person, they do not break up direct costs and indirect costs because indirect costs affect them just as much as direct costs do.

I think that many of the things in 13777 are worthy permanent objectives of agencies.

I have strong differences with, on the other hand, is 13771, the PAYGO two-for-one kind of rule.

Dr. Chambers, we will count on folks like you and some of your colleagues to be able to take a hard look at some of these things, to be able to bring us good data.

Deadlines do not seem to be deadlines to actually get things resolved.

Consistency is extremely important for business and for planning.

I think the effort to create a regulatory review officer in each agency that has responsibility and accountability and a reporting obligation and a mandate to make retrospective review an ongoing function within the agencies is an…

As a Nation, we spend nearly $2 trillion a year on regulatory compliance.

Regulations are necessary to carry out the laws passed by Congress, and they must be promulgated carefully.

Right. I want to make one more comment; then I want to shift over to Senator Heitkamp on this.

Thank you. We look forward to the questions. How about that? We are grateful to be able to have the dialogue and all of your input on it.

I appreciate you all being here. This is today's Subcommittee hearing titled 'Examination of Regulatory Policy on the Economy and Business Growth.'

How do we avoid that?

Let me try to clarify this.

It is one of my favorite things to do in a small business meeting, is to ask: 'How many people got up this morning and read the Federal Register?'

If each Administration is changing their perspective on regulations and it is their 'best science of the day,' that is not best science. That is politics.

It is important to be clear that well-written regulations are a necessary facet of an orderly society.

There will be a side-by-side that is very unique in the modern age to be able to see how the same economy functions under two different sets of regulations in the days ahead.

I know we have been going about an hour and a half, and I want to be merciful to you in this process as well where I pull things together.

I have heard that over and over and over again.

But let me just pause for a second. If you are going to look at, let us say, a 50-year time period and let us see the benefit, why would you do a 10-year cost and a 50-year time period?

Many of my constituents in Oklahoma just a few years ago would sit down with me and I would say, 'What is it that you want to talk to me about?' and they would say, 'I do not have a specific thing. I just want you to make it stop because…

That has not always been so. If you go back 15 or 20 years ago, if someone came into the country illegally as a child, they were not placed in the home of someone who also did not have legal status in the United States.