Mike Conaway: “Well, I thank the gentleman from Utah for yielding and for hosting this night's hour to talk about the Tenth Amendment…”

“Well, I thank the gentleman from Utah for yielding and for hosting this night's hour to talk about the Tenth Amendment and federalism. It's probably been read into the Record 11 dozen times, but I want to read a quote from James Madison into the Record that sets the tone for what I want to talk about. James Madison, in Federalist 45 said: ``The powers delegated to the Federal Government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects such as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce. And the powers reserved to the several States will extend to all of the objects in which, in the ordinary course of affairs concerns the lives, liberties and properties of the people.'' Mr. Speaker, I'd argue that therein lies much of the problems that we face today as a Federal Government. Since 1995, this Congress and the various administrative agencies across this vast Federal Government have issued some 60,000 new rules and regulations, everything from regulating the size of the holes in Swiss cheese to the colors for surgical sutures. And I would argue that the size of the holes in Swiss cheese probably should be defined by the folks in Wisconsin where they do a lot of cheese.”