Steve Cohen: “I want to thank the ranking member for yielding time. This bill amends the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, which…”

“I want to thank the ranking member for yielding time. This bill amends the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, which requires agencies to engage in so much analysis and in so many new procedures that it basically befuddles the agencies in bringing forth any rules in the future. It is elimination by burdensome regulation. While it doesn't say it is eliminating rules, that's the effect of it. It subjects all major rules and other rules, those which have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, to review by small business review panels. The cumulative effect of these and other changes in H.R. 527 will be to undermine the ability of agencies to effectively regulate consumer health and product safety, environmental protection, workplace safety, and financial services industry misconduct, among other critical concerns. We talk about small businesses. Small businesses are important, and they create more jobs than any other sector of our economy, but small businesses are made up of human beings. To paraphrase Mitt Romney, who said that corporations are people, small businesses are people, too. Small businesses are concerned about consumer health and product safety because they are the victims of it.…”