On the recordFebruary 5, 2015
One of the key failings of existing law is that it allows different agencies to interpret differently the terms of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. This allows agencies to find loopholes at their pleasure and evade the requirements of the law. The bill remedies this defect by granting the Small Business Administration's Office of Chief Counsel for Advocacy authority to write regulations to govern all agencies' compliance with the RFA and SBREFA. The bill also grants the Office of Chief Counsel authority to intervene--the key word there, ``intervene''--in agency adjudications and offer comments in agency notice-and-comment proceedings. These reforms will, at last, assure consistent compliance with the RFA and the SBREFA across the entire Federal Government. The amendment would defeat the purpose and restore to the agencies their ability to find loopholes to suit their whims. America's small business creators deserve better than that. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
