On the recordJanuary 11, 2017
I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I support his amendment. Title I of the bill contains critical reforms to the rulemaking process first introduced in the 112th Congress. In one sentence, one could say that these reforms have one ultimate goal--to assure a fair rulemaking process that achieves the benefits Congress seeks and keeps unnecessary costs to a minimum. The gentleman's amendment, of which I am a cosponsor, responds to an extreme example of rulemaking abuse that played out during the 114th Congress. That abuse was the Environmental Protection Agency's advocacy campaign to skew the information submitted for its administrative record and promote lobbying on behalf of its massive proposed waters of the United States rule. It is one thing to propose a rule and open the agency's doors impartially to information from all members of the public. It is quite another to promote public submissions to guarantee the cooking of the administrative record to support the agency's view and to advocate lobbying of Congress to support that view. This amendment makes sure that the biased agency activity manifest in the waters of the United States rulemaking never happens again. Mr. Chairman, I support the amendment.





