Larry Pressler: “I rise today as a cosponsor of the Wallop Regulatory Flexibility Act amendment to S. 4, the National Competitiveness…”

“I rise today as a cosponsor of the Wallop Regulatory Flexibility Act amendment to S. 4, the National Competitiveness Act. The Regulatory Flexibility Act is of paramount importance to the 21 million U.S. small businesses. This sector played a starring role in the economic expansion of the past decade. Small businesses today employ 54 percent of the U.S. work force, account for 44 percent of all sales, and generate 39 percent of our gross domestic product. Government regulation places undue burdens on small businesses which in turn inhibits their ability to compete at home and in the global marketplace. However, the Regulatory Flexibility Act [RFA], if properly implemented and appropriately strengthened, can help ease the regulatory burdens on small businesses. That is why the small business community strongly endorses this amendment. The RFA is based on two premises. First, Federal agencies often do not recognize the impact their rules have on small businesses. Second, small businesses are disproportionately affected by Federal regulation compared to their larger counterparts. The RFA was enacted to not only obtain Federal agency recognition of these effects, but to reduce them. The RFA requires Federal agencies to assess the impact of their proposals on small businesses.”