Secret Science Reform Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. LOUDERMILK. I thank the chairman for the opportunity to speak on this very important bill.

Mr. Chair, as I stand in the Chamber here, this historic Chamber, all around the top of the wall here are engraved images of great lawgivers who have influenced this Nation and the great institutions of government we have. As the Prime Minister of Israel pointed out, Moses is in the back, who gave us the natural laws our Founders referred to, but over my right shoulder, just above the rostrum, is the image of Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson wrote about another set of laws and rights that are given to us. He also wrote 27 grievances--27 violations--of either the natural law that Moses wrote about or the natural rights of men that he wrote about in the Declaration of Independence. These were grievances against the King of England for violations against the natural laws or the natural rights of men.

The 10th grievance, ironically, that he wrote about can also be seen as a warning to where we are today in this Nation. The 10th grievance says that:

The King has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass the people and eat out their substance.

What Jefferson was talking about was the multitude of regulations and regulatory agencies that the King of England had instituted here on the continent of North America.

Over the past decades, we have seen a rampant growth not only in the number of Federal agencies that have regulatory authority over Americans, but the scope of the regulations, that they have impacted our very lives. Every moment of your day is in some way impacted by regulation--and I argue overregulation--by the Federal Government.

As we speak here today, the EPA is considering a decrease in the amount of acceptable ozone in our atmosphere, which is questionable. Many scientists have said that that level of ozone that they are trying to achieve is unachievable. Even some of the most remote areas of our Nation would not even be able to achieve that. These are areas that don't have any type of industry or significant population.

The National Black Chamber of Commerce testified in a committee hearing the other day that this level of ozone in the regulation the EPA is trying to impose would have significant impact on the economy, especially small business owners and minority business owners. Most of their small businesses are in metropolitan areas. This overregulation is eating out the substance of Americans.

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council recently testified that the average American pays $14,974 in hidden taxes. These are taxes because of regulation by the Federal Government. That is $14,000 a year average Americans are spending out of their own pocket because of overregulation. Much of this is because of questionable science that is hidden and not transparent. That is 23 percent of their income.

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Mr. LOUDERMILK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

While this bill would not fix the overreach of this administration in their regulation, it will bring transparency--that the American people have a right to know that when their rights and their liberties are being restricted by government, that it is substantiated and it is sound science.

I fully support this measure. It is one of the most important ones, I believe, that we will do in this Congress.

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