Orrin Hatch: “let me spend a few minutes addressing the merits of S. 343 and the Glenn amendment. Let me say that, in our opinion, the…”

“let me spend a few minutes addressing the merits of S. 343 and the Glenn amendment. Let me say that, in our opinion, the Glenn amendment is reg lite. It is a somewhat weaker version of S. 291, which was the compromise bill, and for that reason voted out of the Governmental Affairs Committee under my close friend, Bill Roth, my comanager on this bill. As Chairman Roth pointed out, S. 343 is a truly superior vehicle for achieving meaningful and effective regulatory reform than either S. 291 or the Glenn-Chafee substitute. S. 343, unlike the Glenn bill, is a product of the collective wisdom of three committees--Judiciary, Governmental Affairs, and Energy and Natural Resources--and many Senators, including Senators Johnston, Heflin, Dole, and others in addition. It has undergone 100 substantive and technical changes over the last 4 months. We have tried to cooperate with the White House. Many of the changes have been requested by them, and we have to say we have been very cooperative in the process. I know that just the Judiciary Committee version of S. 343 encompassed helpful changes suggested by the majority and minority staffs of the committee working as a task force, the administration, and various representatives of Federal agencies after lengthy meetings lasting days. These changes are reflected in the final version of S. 343 that is before this body.…”