Malcolm Wallop: “as the Senate considers the National Competitiveness Act, many Americans find it ironic that the biggest hurdle to U.S.…”

“as the Senate considers the National Competitiveness Act, many Americans find it ironic that the biggest hurdle to U.S. competitiveness is oftentimes their own Government. The rules to regulate every aspect of business activity--how it interacts with workers, other businesses, customers, the public, and the environment have become so pervasive and the burdens so onerous as to hinder all ability to compete. Regulations are estimated to cost Americans between $880 billion and $1.6 trillion per year. This sounds like the kind of deficits we run up in decades, but Madam President, this is the per year cost to American business. There are nearly 125,000 Federal employees who do nothing but issue and inforce regulations. In 1993, last year, the Federal Register published 69,688 pages of proposed and final regulations which businesses are expected to know and to comment upon. How can we expect American business men and women to compete when they have to spend so much of their time, so much of their effort, and so much of their creativity just trying to meet the demands of their government. The burden is especially difficult for small business, and even small rural communities, to shoulder.”