Destroying Unnecessary, Misaligned, and Prohibitive Red Tape Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 916, I call up the bill (H.R. 4305) to direct the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to establish a Red Tape Hotline to receive notifications of burdensome agency rules, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4305, the DUMP Red Tape Act, introduced by Representative Wied from the great State of Wisconsin.

Mr. Speaker, entrepreneurs across America are driving our economic growth, but too often they are forced to fight through layers of red tape just to keep their doors open. Every day, small businesses deal with outdated, duplicative, or unclear regulations that make it harder for them to hire, grow, and innovate.

Since 1976, the SBA Office of Advocacy has served as a voice for small businesses across the country. The Office of Advocacy works to encourage small business success through the government's legislative, regulatory, and administrative process. When it comes to regulatory costs, Office of Advocacy is equipped to represent the interests of small businesses at the Federal level.

To make this easier, Office of Advocacy launched the Red Tape Hotline, a necessary resource that gives small businesses a direct, real-time way to report burdensome regulations that are holding them back.

The Red Tape Hotline empowers small business owners to speak up and help Office of Advocacy hold Federal agencies accountable for the red tape that is crushing their day-to-day operations.

The Red Tape Hotline was created by following President Trump's executive order, ``Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.'' The DUMP Red Tape Act codifies the executive order and ensures that small businesses always have a reliable channel to be heard.

This bill strengthens Office of Advocacy's ability to deliver small business concerns directly to Congress, ensuring that we have the real- world data which we need to push for smarter, more effective regulatory policies.

While the public can submit comments to proposed rules, this Red Tape Hotline provides small businesses the opportunity to provide feedback on the true burden of compliance with active regulations.

This bill also requires Office of Advocacy to submit an annual report to Congress summarizing the notifications received through the hotline. By strengthening and formalizing this process, Congress will receive a clear picture of how Federal regulations affect different types of businesses nationwide. This will help ensure that Congress is acting on accurate, real-world information.

Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle may argue that the hotline improperly focuses on burdensome regulations rather than collecting positive feedback, but it is simple: The purposes of this tool is to identify obstacles that need attention, and regulations that function well do not require intervention.

Small businesses are not asking us to preserve the status quo. They are asking to eliminate the barriers that prevent them from thriving. By isolating problematic rules, we empower Congress and Federal agencies to focus time and resources where they are needed most, while still preserving the regulations that work.

The DUMP Red Tape Act strengthens our commitment to a pro-job, pro- innovation economy by ensuring that Federal agencies remain accountable and responsive to the needs of Main Street.

Mr. Speaker, with that in mind, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R.
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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Hageman).

Mr. Speaker, despite what my colleagues say, there is no hotline that exists exclusively for small businesses. H.R. 4305 will fix that problem. It will provide an avenue for small businesses to engage with the SBA Office of Advocacy, a voice that is focused on advocating for Main Street.

This bill passed out of the committee on a bipartisan basis, and as chairman, I am committed to getting our Members the information they need to support Main Street.

Ultimately, this information will come as an annual report to Congress upon enactment, but for now, we will continue to work with the Office of Advocacy to understand concerns from small businesses across the country.

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