The REINS Act: "Critical tool in battle against overregulation"

August 2, 2013

On Thursday, August 1st, Congressman Andy Barr (KY) spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about his support for the REINS Act and about a jobs amendment to the REINS Act which he cosponsored that would require the agency drafting a Federal rule to include a job-impact assessment in the proposal's cost-benefit analysis. This will show how many jobs will be created, or more realistically, how many jobs the proposed regulation will destroy. It will also reveal whether these job losses or new jobs are in the private or public sector. Full Transcript: I thank the gentleman from Texas for the opportunity to rise in support of this important amendment and to rise in support overall of the REINS Act, a critical tool in the battle against overregulation, which is destroying jobs. ? The gentleman from Georgia talked about whether or not regulations actually destroy jobs. Well, from my home State of Kentucky, I can tell you we've lost 5,700 coal-mining jobs in east Kentucky as a result of this administration's overzealous overregulation of our coal industry. ? Small business owners from across Kentucky continually tell me that they want to create more jobs and grow their businesses. They want to help put food on the table, gas in the tank, and more money in the pockets of Kentucky families, who are hurting under this administration's War on Coal. But costly and burdensome regulations coming out of unaccountable Federal agencies are raising their cost of doing business, leading to higher prices for consumers, fewer jobs for workers, and weakened American ?competitiveness. ? While Federal regulations wreak havoc on families in Kentucky, small businesses, and our overall economy, the unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats writing them are hiding behind the fact that they are not always required to fully analyze the impact their proposal will have on jobs. ?If you want to know about the impact of these regulations on jobs, come to eastern Kentucky and see those lost jobs.