A Significant Slowdown in the Federal Government’s Red Tape Factory
‘Today marks another important milestone in our efforts to cut back the forest of red tape the Obama administration left behind. Effective today, thanks to the leadership of Chairman Ajit Pai, the FCC has rolled back meddlesome and unnecessary regulations that Democrats imposed on the internet back in 2015.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the rollback of harmful Obama-era regulations through the Congressional Review Act (CRA):
“Today marks another important milestone in our efforts to cut back the forest of red tape the Obama administration left behind. Effective today, thanks to the leadership of Chairman Ajit Pai, the FCC has rolled back meddlesome and unnecessary regulations that Democrats imposed on the internet back in 2015.
“Let’s put this whole effort into perspective. The Federal Register is the government’s legal newspaper. It prints, among other documents, the regulations that federal agencies enforce and the proposed rules on deck. In 2016, under President Obama, it had to print nearly 39,000 pages of rules -- an all-time high -- and another 21,000-some pages in proposed rules. It’s hard to wrap your mind around. Sixty thousand pages of rules and proposed rules to pile on American workers and job creators.
“Well, we slashed those numbers in 2017. In that first year of our Republican government, the total number of Federal Register pages devoted to rules and proposed rules plummeted by more than 50 percent.
“That is a significant slowdown in the federal government’s red tape factory -- just in our first year. This is part of what we were elected to do. Get Washington D.C.’s foot off the brake. Let hard-working Americans and small businesses spend less time and energy hurdling obstacles put up by the federal government.
“The regulatory reform comes on top of the historic tax reform legislation we passed last December. We overhauled our nation’s tax code and rewrote it so that businesses can expand, invest, and create jobs more easily, and so middle-class families can keep more of what they earn. And this 180-degree policy turnaround is helping the U.S. economy rise to its highest heights in recent memory.
“Today, thanks in large part to tax reform and regulatory reform, more small businesses are saying it’s a good time to expand operations than at any point in the last forty-four years. A 25 percentage-point leap in the number of Americans who say now is a good time to find a quality job. And 3.8 percent unemployment -- the lowest nationwide level in 18 years.
“The real roots of this good news aren’t here in Washington. Republicans understand that government doesn’t create prosperity. But public policy plays a big part in determining whether the wind is blowing in job creators’ faces, or whether it is at their backs. And on that front, the results of this Republican opportunity agenda are speaking for themselves.”
Related Issues: Tax Reform, Taxes, Regulations, FCC, Congressional Review Act
Next Previous
