Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1515, the Guidance Out Of Darkness Act, sponsored by our chairman, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer). Mr. Speaker, my Republican colleagues like to say that this bill would cast a light on what they love to call regulatory dark matter. This melodramatic term refers to the guidance documents Federal agencies issue to help the public better understand actions and policies. Guidance documents come in the form of interpretive rules, which describe an agency's interpretation of a statute or regulation, and general statements of agency policy. For example, an agency might issue a guidance document to clarify a regulation and its technical details or to offer more information on compliance. Guidance documents don't have the force of law and are already publicly available. The bill simply requires the agencies to publish guidance documents on a dedicated website for ease of access. It also requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to designate a single website for accessing all agency guidance documents, except for those exempt from disclosure under the FOIA. Democrats support a transparent Federal Government that is always accountable to the public, so we support this bill, as well. We don't buy into the incendiary rhetoric of some MAGA Republicans trying to paint agency guidance documents as some kind of sinister tool of the administrative state.…”