Reins Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LEE. Mr. President, it has been a long time coming, but it is with enormous pride that I stand to celebrate the passage of the REINS Act in the House of Representatives today.

This landmark legislation represents a significant step forward toward reining in the ever-expanding Federal Government. I am immensely grateful to House Republicans, to the House Freedom Caucus, and to Representative Kat Cammack, for their unwavering persistence in championing this desperately needed reform legislation.

The journey of the REINS Act began years ago with profound recognition that something was fundamentally wrong with our Federal regulatory system.

We realized the power wielded by these faceless Agencies was unfolding unchecked, eroding the very foundations of our Republic, rendering it unaccountable.

The notion that a small group of unelected individuals could impose far-reaching regulations that affected every aspect of our lives was itself an affront to the principles upon which this great Nation was built--certainly, contrary to the rules established and embodied in the Constitution, which govern the way our government operates.

Year after year, the proponents of regulatory reform within the Federal system have fought against the odds, facing resistance from those who have defended the status quo. We knew that the American people deserved better, that their voices should be heard, and that their elected representatives should have the final say.

Throughout its evolution, the REINS Act has undergone refinements, fine-tuning its provisions to maintain the cutting edge, while ensuring democratic accountability. It is about reining in unchecked power, bringing spending under the watchful eye of our elected representatives, and restoring the principles of transparency and accountability.

The tenets of the REINS Act are rooted in common sense in a way that every American can grasp. If you understand the concept of no taxation without representation, then it should be easy to understand the REINS Act. But what exactly does the REINS Act mean for hard-working families?

Well, the entrepreneurial spirit runs deep within our country--the entire country--and certainly within my home State of Utah, driving economic growth and fostering innovation across various industries. From tech startups to local artisans, Utahns have a strong inclination to pursue their passions, start their own businesses, and create opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities.

However, this entrepreneurial spirit often faces significant hurdles, sometimes insurmountable hurdles, due to overregulation by this or that Federal Agency. It is like the feeling you get when you try to assemble a new piece of furniture from a certain Swedish retail store, and you are not quite sure if you have purchased the kejserlig or the plogfara. Yet you are bombarded with a thousand-page jargon-filled instruction manual. Federal regulations often feel like those convoluted instruction manuals, but with much higher stakes, though the titles are a little easier to pronounce.

The REINS Act seeks to change that. The term ``REINS'' is an acronym that stands for Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny, and its purpose is simple: to ensure that unelected bureaucrats cannot impose major regulations on us without the consent of our elected representatives.

It is about putting power back into the hands of the people and their elected representatives, where it rightfully belongs. You see, this isn't just a good idea. It is a good idea that has been embedded within the Constitution. The very first operative provision of that document-- article I, section 1, clause 1--makes this clear:

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

The meaning of that is clear and simple: to make law, you have to go through the Congress. There is no other way to make law. Legislative powers are powers to make law, and all legislative powers granted in the Constitution are Federal laws. Therefore, to make a Federal law, you have to follow the formula prescribed in article I, section 1.

Article I, section 7 explains exactly how that has to happen. You have the same legislative proposal that has to pass the House and the Senate, in identical text, before it can then be presented to the President for signature, veto, or acquiescence.

The point of this is simple: The power to make law is inherently dangerous and volatile. It can harm people, just as it can protect others. For that reason, it is not to be entrusted to any branch of government other than the branch of government most accountable to the people at the most regular intervals.

You see, regulatory reform is more than just some esoteric concept that exists solely within Capitol Hill or in Washington, DC. Its impact reverberates across our daily lives, affecting everything from the cost of goods and services to the livelihoods of hard-working individuals and families.

That is why it is about a whole lot more than just what the Constitution says and what it should be interpreted and understood to mean. It is about how this affects individuals and families. By requiring congressional approval for major regulations, for enactment of a new major rule or regulation, as if it were a legislative proposal, rather than just allowing executive branch Agencies to make new laws themselves, the REINS Act brings accountability and transparency to the rulemaking process, injecting a much needed and constitutionally prescribed dose of common sense into our bureaucratic system.

The REINS Act articulates and imagines a world where small businesses are free from the weight of onerous regulations, detached from any common sense, where parents can provide for their children without being bogged down by unnecessary redtape, and where innovation and entrepreneurship thrive without the suffocating grip of excessive government control. That is the world we strive to create with the passage of the REINS Act.

Now, to be clear, even with the REINS Act, from time to time some Federal regulations would end up being approved and enacted in the law by Congress. Congress, after all, can and does make mistakes, but there is a big difference when Congress makes that mistake. Members of Congress who vote for that mistake can be held accountable.

Currently, they cannot. In fact, by design, they are insulated from the process, left only in a position where the best they can do is write a harshly worded letter, beating their chest, and calling the people who wrote this or that regulation at this or that Federal Agency barbarians.

But, after all, our job is not about writing letters. It is about making law. Insofar as we have got other entities that are not us, run by people who are not elected by voters in our State or in any State, that is a problem, and it is a problem that we have to fix.

Today, we celebrate this victory--this victory for freedom, for common sense, and for the hard-working families who deserve a government that serves, not stifles them. We owe an immense debt of gratitude to the House of Representatives and, in particular, to the House Republicans who voted for this, specifically, most notably, the Members of the House Freedom Caucus for their tireless efforts in pushing this legislation forward, reminding us all that persistence and unwavering dedication can yield remarkable results.

I stand before you humbled and honored to witness this historic moment. Together, we can continue to fight for this needed reform, not just as an abstract concept, not just as something that the Constitution already requires, but also as a tangible path toward a brighter, more prosperous future for all Americans.

All Americans benefit from this, but it is especially those Americans who struggle who will benefit the most from this. You have to remember that these regulations, when they are put in place, come at a cost. They are not free.

It has been a few years since anyone has undertaken a comprehensive effort to estimate the total cost of complying with Federal regulations. But according to one study that I saw--it has been several years ago now since this study was produced--they estimated that the cost, while impossible to calculate in its entirety, was at least $2 trillion. When adding a whole lot of Federal regulations, including some very costly Federal regulations since that study was done, one can surmise from that that the cost is now somewhere between $2 trillion and $3 trillion. This is an enormous sum of money.

Now, let's not deceive ourselves. Let's not minimize this by assuming that those costs are borne simply by wealthy Americans, by big blue- chip corporations, by someone whom we can imagine in our mind's eye as a Monopoly game piece wearing a monocle, dressed up like Mr. Peanut. No, that is not who pays for this. Who pays for this are hard-working Americans, disproportionately America's poor and middle class, who pay dearly for this. That 2 or 3 trillion-dollar figure is supported by you and me and, disproportionately, by those who are near the bottom of the socioeconomic scale. Those people who are working hard, living paycheck to paycheck, find that, as a result of these regulations, everything they buy--from cornflakes to cars, from groceries to gasoline, and everything in between--becomes more expensive. They also pay for it through diminished wages and unemployment.

Those are real people who are being harmed by these things. The least we can do is, before subjecting them to even more regulations that are going to cost America's poor and middle class even more money, we owe it to them to have the decency to at least vote on these regulations before they have to comply, before they have to pay through the nose, yet again, for more and more products.

Inflation has many causes, but one of the significant ones is excessive Federal regulation. Those regulations won't go away with the REINS Act, but when the REINS Act becomes law, we will at least be doing the American people the basic courtesy of voting on regulations before they have to comply. It is not too much to ask.

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