Chairman Burgess Opening Remarks on H.R. 115

As prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon.  

First off, I want to start tonight by saying thank you to everyone who has prayed for our family and sent letters, flowers, and warm wishes our way. The loss of a child is something that I would never wish upon my worst enemy. Your thoughts and prayers have helped our family as we have dealt with this new reality, and we appreciate each of you more than you know. 

With tonight being the last time I will chair the House Rules Committee, I would like to begin the hearing by sharing a couple of words of appreciation and expressing my gratitude for the opportunity of a lifetime to serve as Chairman of this exceptional Committee. Being appointed to the role of Chairman by Speaker Johnson hasn’t been an easy ride, but one that I am forever grateful to have experienced. Throughout my career, I have made a point to always say yes to a challenge, so when Speaker Johnson called me, I knew I had to accept.
 
 I also want to take a moment and thank the Rules Committee staff who have worked diligently to ensure that I and other members of this committee are prepared and that good rules pass out of committee and get to the floor. From Jennifer and Steve, my Staff Directors, down to the Staff Assistants each of you have been loyal confidants, and I thank you for all of your hard work and long nights. For the past 22 years, I have been blessed and made a point to be surrounded by amazing, smart, and talented staff. Without each of them, I would not have gotten to where I am today. 
 
I would also like to, of course, thank each of my fellow Members of this committee; thank you for all the hard work and for the time each of you has put in. Starting the week off by sitting in this Committee through the night is not for the weak. I appreciate each of your input. Thank you to my Republican colleagues for your continued commitment to prioritizing legislation in the best interest of Americans. And lastly, thank you to my Ranking Member, Mr. McGovern. You have challenged me every single hearing, and I will look back fondly on our time together and, from time to time, will miss our heated arguments.
 
I could easily keep going on and on about the past 22 years, but that will take up all of our time tonight and we have work to do.
 
Speaking of work to do, I want to address the elephant in the room. Obviously, with federal government funding expiring at the end of the week, we all are awaiting an agreement on government funding. I think everyone in this room, the Speaker, and appropriators had hoped we’d be considering such an agreement today, but discussions remain ongoing. As soon as we receive word on an agreement and how to execute its passage, Ranking Member McGovern and members of the Committee, you will be the first to know. But for now, we remain on hold until we see white smoke. Now, without further delay…
 
Today, the Rules Committee is convening to consider legislation that deals with the balance of power as a Presidential Administration ends. Current law, the Congressional Review Act, provides the primary check on regulatory overreach by allowing Congress to reverse a rule by resolution. However, that is a single rule. Any additional rule requires its own separate resolution. Administrations of both stripes tend to overwhelm Congress at the end of their term with hundreds of new rules – known as “midnight rules” - representing billions of dollars of new regulatory burden. For example, each of the Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations submitted over twice the amount of rules in the final year of their Administration compared to their previous three combined. The executive branch has exploited the inefficiency of the CRA, leaving our constituents to bear the burden. H.R. 115 makes a small tweak to existing law to allow Congress to catch up to this expected onslaught of new regulations as the Biden-Harris Administration leaves office.
 
The bill allows Congress to consider multiple rules at once, streamlining the process Congress already employs with respect to executive rulemaking. Doing so will allow Congress to keep up with the rapid pace of midnight rules, reining in federal bureaucracy at the time it is most active. 
 
I look forward to the discussion surrounding this bill and will now yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. McGovern, for any comments he wishes to make.
 

###