Chairwoman Foxx Opening Remarks on Three CRAs

As prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon. The Committee will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time.
 
Today, the Rules Committee is convening to consider three separate measures H.J. Res. 42, H.J. Res. 61, and S.J. Res. 11.

Before I discuss these three measures, let me make one thing abundantly clear: gone are the days of the government-knows-best mentality that Americans suffered from under the Biden administration.

For four straight years the Biden administration worked hard to deny freedom of consumer choice in all aspects of our lives.

Like the American people, the private sector also found itself under the thumb of an administration hellbent on mandating subservience and control.

Companies found themselves twisted in regulatory knots because the Biden administration issued misguided mandate after misguided mandate. The onslaught was never-ending.

But it’s a new day, we have a Republican-controlled Congress, and President Trump is back in the White House. We are determined to give American consumers choice again and allow the business community to flourish and create unbridled value without the threat of government encroachment.

Now, on to our first measure: H.J. Res. 42, a Congressional Review Act resolution that would nullify a Department of Energy rule that pushes arbitrary product mandates that drive up costs for consumers and hamstrings consumer choice.

I said this during our last meeting, and I’ll say it again: consumer choice is not something to be trifled with.

This rule is devoid of any reasonable solution to increase the efficiency of consumer products – ordinary consumers stand to gain absolutely nothing from it.
 
Our next measure is H.J. Res. 61, a Congressional Review Act resolution that will nullify a midnight rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency that slaps dubious emission standards on the manufacturing of rubber tires.

What’s particularly laughable about the EPA’s rule is that the agency’s own risk review found that the rule was not necessary to protect public health, and in fact may even increase carbon emissions.
 
That same risk review could not quantify any public health benefits from the rule.
 
The sheer level of incompetence that went into formulating this rule in the first place is mindboggling.
 
Our last measure is S.J. Res. 11, a Congressional Review Act resolution that would nullify another midnight rule issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that specifically targets American energy producers with a barrage of unnecessary regulations.
 
The justification for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s rule is to “better protect shipwrecks and other cultural resources on the seabed from potential harm due to offshore oil and gas activities.”
 
This mandate is completely misguided, and it will force American energy producers to spend untold resources on scouring ocean seafloors for potential shipwrecks without having a single indication of whether they exist in the area.
 
We’re returning to American energy dominance again in our country, and this rule acts as another regulatory cog that will do more harm than good.
 
It’s time that we put these three Biden administration rules through the shredder and move forward.
 
Common sense has returned. 
 
With that, I look forward to today’s discussion, and I now yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. McGovern, for any comments he wishes to make. 

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