Foxx Opening Remarks on S.J. Res. 13 and S.J. Res. 31

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 two separate measures: S.J. Res. 13 and S.J. Res. 31.
 
S.J. Res. 13 provides for congressional disapproval of a rule submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the Department of the Treasury relating to the review of applications under the Bank Merger Act.
 
The OCC’s bank merger rule is as biased as it is flawed. It discourages competition within the industry, erects swaths of red tape that ensnare bank merger applications, and erodes the integrity of our financial system.
 
This rule is not grounded in sound policy – it serves to kneecap small and mid-size banks while restricting access to credit for millions of customers across the country.

This is yet another Biden-era rule that we must dispense with, and we intend on doing so. 
 
S.J. Res. 31 provides for congressional disapproval of a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to ‘‘Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act’’.
 
EPA’s rule is misguided – it unfairly binds American energy producers in a regulatory straitjacket while removing a commonsense incentive for them to lower their own emissions.
 
The former rule that was put into place during President Trump’s previous term encouraged these energy producers to take positive and substantive steps to reduce emissions without the looming threat of a regulatory barrage.
 
But this EPA rule runs counter to that, and it operates on a premise that is unjust.

What America needs is a vigorous energy manufacturing posture, and not one that’s riddled with endless regulatory hoops that energy producers are required to jump through.
 
Achieving American energy dominance is not found through overregulation – it’s found through good, sensible policies that are not heavy-handed and inflexible.
 
The EPA’s rule is not grounded in good, sensible policy, and that’s precisely why it must be overturned. Over the last four years, the private sector found itself contorted into knots thanks to the previous administration’s proclivity to regulate the hell out of everything. 
 
But it’s a new year, a new Congress, and new administration. We’re moving in a better direction.
 
With that, I look forward to today’s discussion, and I now yield to Mr. McGovern for any comments he wishes to make.

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