Mr. Speaker, I thank the Chair for the opportunity to address the House this afternoon. Beginning in 2013, I began discussing how our economic recovery was subpar in comparison to post-World War II…
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Chair for the opportunity to address the House this afternoon.
Beginning in 2013, I began discussing how our economic recovery was subpar in comparison to post-World War II recoveries. That is, in part, due to, as I argued, the wet blanket of the avalanche of new regulatory costs imposed by the previous administration.
Since Congress has a poor track record of regularly enacting all of our appropriations bills, funding the government, and directing agency priorities, the administrative state, that unelected portion of our government, has expanded in authority and filled that void.
The House turned a corner this year, Mr. Speaker, by passing all 12 spending bills, fully vetted through our committees, prior to September 30, 2017. Sadly, only the first time since 2010. Further, it has been more than 21 years since Congress has passed all 12 funding bills and had them signed into law before the start of a new fiscal year.
Likewise, the Supreme Court, in their case, Chevron U.S.A. v. the Natural Resources Defense Council, back in 1984, set up a concept now referred to as the ``Chevron deference.'' This, too, has empowered the unelected, Big Government Washington authorities deferring to their authority, rather than the People's Congress. This has further emasculated the Article I powers of the Constitution. I disagree with this concept of Chevron deference. Before he died, Justice Scalia regretted his defense of Chevron deference and said that it, in fact, ``contravened separation of powers.''
This combination of the Chevron deference and the lack of the regular, predictable oversight and appointments have resulted in this wet blanket of a growing leviathan of a centralized Federal power, negating State authorities protected under the 10th Amendment and curbing freedom for our families and individuals.
Noted New York lawyer and author, Philip Howard, calls this ``The Rule of Nobody.'' In the 2014 book, Howard argues that our administrative state is wearing people out. The process is devoid of human judgment and common sense.
Many of us, in the Congress, are pushing back insisting, like in the VA Accountability Act, that--a shocking idea--bad employees should be fired and, through the public oversight of our committees or in my own Golden Fleece Awards, that we demand accountability of the personnel of the Federal Government and commonsense in the application of our policies.
Howard recalls the U.S. Open golf championship, back in 2011, out in Bethesda, Maryland, when county officials shut down a children's lemonade stand near the course because it didn't have a vendor's license, Mr. Speaker. This mindless, box-checking approach is not limited just to the beltway's Federal mandates.
So enters President Trump, our new President. Last year, I wrote then-President-elect Trump asking him to create a regulatory relief task force to address the overly burdensome regulations from our Federal agencies that, in my view, have hurt, over the past decade, our economic growth, our job growth, our productivity, and, hence, our wage growth.
In February of 2017, President Trump ordered Federal agencies to create a regulatory reform task force to identify rules within their agency that needed elimination or modification.
I rise today to recognize the improvements in the regulatory process in the past year and the significant reductions in cost to the economy, as a result, and I commend the new administration for seeking to continue this momentum into 2018, with the recent release of its regulatory plan and agenda for 2018.
As Phil Howard has demonstrated, and we experience daily, the Federal administrative state is lacking in accountability. It is not just vast and costly; it is unnecessarily intrusive into the everyday lives of hardworking Americans.
In Arkansas, we have seen agency regulations that have had devastating economic impacts on our farmers, small businesses, nonprofits, schools, colleges, universities, and State agencies.
President Trump set the proper tone for reining in this regulatory state by issuing an executive order, in the first 10 days of taking office, directing agencies to eliminate two existing regulations for each new one issued. Common sense.
In 2017, Federal agencies have withdrawn or delayed 1,579 planned regulatory actions, leading to over $8 billion in lifetime net cost savings.
In 2018, the Trump administration plans to raise the bar by issuing 448 deregulatory actions and 131 regulatory actions, a better than 3 to 1 ratio, resulting in more than $9 billion in lifetime costs savings for the economy.
This chart shows the annual cost of new regulations reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget every year, beginning in 2009. You can see the wet blanket that I described growing between 2009 and 2012. But you can see, in the last column, 2017, that there is actually a decline: a $570 million reduction in the cost of new regulations proposed by Washington.
During 2017, here in Congress, we have passed 13 congressional review acts, 11 of which President Trump signed into law this year. By repealing these 11 damaging, large rules, the economy will save some $10 billion over the next 20 years.
These savings and cuts put the control back in the hands of the American people and ensure more accountability and much-needed transparency to the rulemaking process is assured, while providing that local businesses, local farmers, and communities have relief.
Also, we are working with the administration to rightsize regulatory costs through the use of cost-benefit analysis and asserting our Article I oversight authority. Thus, Congress is working, through our committee process, also, to lower and remove the costs and burden of that wet blanket of an overburdened regulatory state.
Naturally, this cost benefit work must be done responsibly by balancing labor and capital, clean air and water, energy security, clean energy, future safe banks, and protected consumers. All that is the responsibility of our elected Members in the House and Senate and their oversight of the executive.
I commend President Trump for cutting the red tape in Washington and giving control back to our States, local communities, and hardworking taxpayers.
Coptic Resolution
Mr. Speaker, I rise, today, to discuss my recent resolution here in the House, H. Res. 673, which expresses concern over attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt.
I had the opportunity to travel to Egypt last year. In the course of preparing for that trip, and during the trip, as well as after I returned back to the United States, I repeatedly heard about the plight of Coptic Christians in Egypt.
ISIS named the Copts their number one target, and we all know their brutal atrocities against them.
In Libya, back in 2015, ISIS beheaded 21 Coptic Christians, sending shock waves from that photo around the world.
Scores were killed in the bombings of St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Cairo, in December 2016. Most recently, on December 29, 11 were shot and killed outside of Saint Menas Church in Helwan.
These are just a few of the atrocities carried out against Copts by terrorist groups like ISIS.
I had the opportunity to walk the halls of the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral. I reflected on the Gospel of Matthew, when Mary fled to Egypt with baby Jesus to save him from King Herod. The Copts are the Egyptians. In fact, the word ``Coptic'' in Greek means Egyptian.
But there in St. Peter and St. Paul's beautiful cathedral in Cairo, murdered by a coward, as women and children prayed, blood splattered on the walls
marked the horror and chaos of that place of worship and serenity.
Although Coptic Christians have repeatedly been victims of numerous attacks from terrorist groups and extremists, it has been most disturbing to me to learn of the attacks carried out against Copts and Christian churches that are carried out by their fellow Egyptians.
On December 22, 2017, just after Friday prayers, dozens of Egyptian Muslims assaulted a Coptic Christian church south of Cairo in an act that started out as a demonstration. While unsanctioned by the Egyptian Government, this church had been holding services for some 15 years.
According to reports, the individuals called for the church's demolition, destroyed its contents, and assaulted those worshipping inside. Based on similar attacks, it is unlikely, Mr. Speaker, that the Egyptian Government will hold those perpetrators accountable for this egregious action.
This is just the most recent example of the ongoing trend of assaults on Copts, their churches, and their property.
I believe that many of us in Congress were pleased to see Egyptian President el-Sisi join Coptic Pope Tawadros II in participating in last Saturday's Orthodox Christmas mass at the recently opened Nativity of Christ Cathedral in Egypt's new administrative capital east of Cairo.
President el-Sisi's words of tolerance and hope are appreciated by all those who respect peace for all those who live in Egypt and all who favor religious freedom across the globe.
However, while President el-Sisi spoke words of tolerance, there are, in my view, greater actions that both he and the Egyptian Government can take to protect the rights of Egyptian Christians seeking merely to raise their families, pursue their work, respect their leaders, and love their ancient nation.
For this reason, I introduced H. Res. 673 to urge continued progress in religious tolerance in this very important country. There are many constructive steps that will enhance tolerance, provide better security for Christians, and improve the education and opportunities for all Egyptians.
My colleagues and I offer this resolution because of our long friendship and partnership with Egypt. We are partners in regional peace efforts, regional economic growth, and in our mutual desire to defeat militant terrorist groups and nations and those who finance them.
President el-Sisi has set the right tone at the top level of his government, and I believe he has a respectful partnership with the leadership of the Copts and other Christians in Egypt.
But that respect and the resulting legal protections must be passed down to all levels of government and society because the streets, sadly, tell a different story.
The Egyptian people are a proud people with an extraordinary civilization, and I believe this is a great opportunity for Egypt to emphasize the importance that Copts can play in Egyptian society as full Egyptian citizens.
As Coptic Pope Tawadros II told me on my visit to Cairo, all Egyptians, Muslim and Christian, take their water from the Nile.
Egypt is an essential partner in the efforts toward a lasting peace between Israel and her neighbors and in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
President el-Sisi told me on two occasions how important counterterrorism is to the Egyptian Government. It is their number one concern, without any doubt, and I commend the President for his partnership with the United States, and especially with Israel, in the field of counterterrorism.
With ISIS carrying out two terrorist attacks last year in Egypt within a month of each, in November and December, that killed Muslims and Christians, the Egyptian Government's concerns about terrorism are legitimate and real.
However, in my view, I do not believe Egypt's march toward modernization and progress and focusing on counterterrorism should come at the cost of sacrificing advances in human rights, education, and religious freedom.
I urge swift consideration of my resolution by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and on the floor of the House so that we can continue to advance religious freedom and civil society with our partner, Egypt.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
