Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (Extensions of Remarks - June 28, 2007)

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2829) making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes:

* Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Chairman, I support the Miller-Sanchez amendment to H.R. 2829, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The Miller-Sanchez amendment would prohibit OMB from using the funds appropriated in this bill to implement Executive Order 13422.

* Executive Order 13422 was issued on January 18, 2007. The Administration's rationale for this Executive Order, which amends Executive Order 12866, is that it will improve the way the government does business. What this Executive Order really does is to create new opportunities for politicization and delay in the regulatory process and make it harder for agencies to take virtually any action.

* This Executive Order makes a significant change in policy by giving OMB authority over agency guidance documents. Agencies issue guidance for a variety of reasons such as providing safety warnings or helping the public understand how to comply with a particular requirement. Agencies will now have to get OMB approval of any guidance document that is considered ``significant.'' This means that OMB will have the opportunity to second-guess the decisions of agency experts and that agencies will be delayed in, or blocked from, getting important information out to the public.

* Executive Order 13422 also requires agencies to designate a presidential appointee as a ``Regulatory Policy Officer'' who will have significant authority. Unless specifically authorized by the agency head, an agency cannot ``commence'' a rulemaking without the approval of the Regulatory Policy Officer. This means that a political appointee will be in the powerful position of vetoing or indefinitely delaying a rule, even when the rule is needed to carry out Congress' directives. This will slow down agency action even further and invite the politicization of agency decisions.

* Executive Order 13422 will make it harder for agencies to issue common sense safeguards to protect health, safety, and the environment. With the Miller-Sanchez amendment, Congress is sending the message that this is not a good way to govern. I urge my colleagues to support the Miller-Sanchez amendment.

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