On the recordJanuary 13, 2015
As someone who comes from local government, I was encouraged last week to hear the Speaker call for us to find common ground. I know firsthand the music that can be made when elected officials allow their commitments to improving the quality of life for our neighbors to guide their actions rather than partisan ideology. Sadly, we are only 2 weeks into the new Congress, and the House majority has brought to the floor a string of divisive bills. Last week we debated without amendment a plan to bypass the normal review process to expedite approval of the Keystone pipeline for the 10th time, and today we consider a repeat of anti-public health and safety legislation that was debated and defeated in the 112th and 113th Congresses. The seductively titled Regulatory Accountability Act would actually effectively block new Federal regulation and is nothing more than a backdoor attempt to roll back important public health and safety protections. What is more, my friends on the other side claim they want to reduce regulatory burdens, but their bill adds more than 70 new analytical steps to the final rulemaking process while jeopardizing science-based methodology. The Union of Concerned Scientists warns that if this bill becomes law, Mr.…
