Thune: Senate Republicans Work to Lift Unnecessary Government Regulations
“We’ve passed 10 CRA resolutions so far, and this week we plan to add four more to that total.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):
“Mr. President, as I said on the floor yesterday, when I meet with South Dakota business owners, I often tell them to let [me] know: how can we help? – even if that means getting out of the way.
“Because that’s often what the government needs to do: get out of the way.
“It’s a foreign concept to the government-knows-best crowd.
“But what my Democrat colleagues frequently fail to realize is that while government can sometimes be a help, it can often be a hindrance – especially under Democrat administrations, which tend to load down Americans and American businesses with burdensome regulations for … extremely dubious gains.
“The Biden administration certainly did.
“And one of our priorities this Congress has been taking advantage of the Congressional Review Act to repeal burdensome Biden administration regulations.
“We’ve passed 10 CRA resolutions so far, and this week we plan to add four more to that total.
“We will kick things off with Senator Tim Scott’s resolution on the Biden administration’s rubber tire manufacturing rule – an excellent example of a burdensome and unnecessary regulation.
“The Biden EPA’s rubber tire rule set new emissions standards for tire manufacturers.
“Why?
“Well, that’s a good question.
“Tire manufacturers are already subject to strict emissions rules.
“And the Biden EPA – that’s right, the Biden EPA – found the rule was not necessary to protect public health or the environment.
“And as for the rule’s effect on emissions – while it will reduce the emission of certain air pollutants, it will increase emissions of carbon dioxide and methane.
“And then there’s the cost.
“The Biden EPA estimated that this rule would cost tire manufacturers $13.3 million per year – and there is reason to believe that that number could go much higher.
“So we have costly new standards for tire manufacturers justified by no public health benefit – including, as I said, by the Biden administration – and estimated to produce extremely dubious, if any, environmental gains.
“You might say we have the poster child for a burdensome and unnecessary government regulation.
“And we’re going to repeal it this week.
“We’re also going to take up Senator Curtis and Senator Lee’s resolution to overturn a Biden administration regulation limiting access to public lands in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area for those with off-road vehicles.
“Senator Curtis has noted that he hopes this measure will be a step toward ensuring that public lands remain accessible to Americans – instead of being closed off by Washington bureaucrats.
“A third CRA measure that we’ll take up this week is Senator Cruz’s resolution to block an unlawful Biden-era Federal Communications Commission regulation that allows a federal program to subsidize unregulated, off-campus Wi-Fi hotspots for schoolchildren.
“The problems with this regulation are myriad.
“It is, as I said, unlawful – it violates the Communications Act, which clearly limits the use of the funds in question to classrooms and libraries.
“And it effectively extends a program that Congress chose not to renew.
“Then there is the fact that this rule endangers children by giving them unsupervised access to a whole host of potentially dangerous or unhealthy content.
“Add to that the fact that it creates the potential for duplication of government efforts to deploy broadband, and you have a whole host of reasons to repeal this Biden regulation.
“Finally, Mr. President, this week we intend to take up Senator Kennedy’s CRA resolution to repeal a Biden administration rule adding unnecessary red tape to bank mergers.
“This rule would delay approval of bank mergers that increase competition, potentially restricting choice in banks for consumers.
“I am grateful to all of the senators I’ve mentioned for their efforts to lift burdensome Biden-era regulations – and for … all those who … sponsored earlier CRA measures.
“And Senate Republicans will continue to work to lift unnecessary government burdens and get government out of the way of American families and American businesses.”
Related Issues: Congressional Review Act
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