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Managing America: Congress

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Week Ending October 26, 2007

H.R.3564 To amend title 5, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the Administrative Conference of the United States through fiscal year 2011, and for other purposes.

The Administrative Conference of the US, created in 1964, provides analysis of administrative laws and guidance to the US Congress on those matters that range from setting the schedule for bridge openings to permissible levels of arsenic in drinking water, bill the report notes. Such administrative regulations, thousands yearly, can have various adverse affects on transparency, cost of doing business and even constitutional rights of individual citizens.

The Conference was reauthorized in 2004 but no funds have been provided since 1995. The bill extends the authorization to appropriate funds for Conference.

The bill report explained the Conference’s purpose this way:

“Agencies issue thousands of rules and regulations each year to implement statutes enacted by Congress. The public policy goals and benefits of regulations include, among other things, ensuring that workplaces, air travel, foods, and drugs are safe; that the Nation's air, water and land are not polluted; and that the appropriate amount of taxes is collected. The costs of these regulations are estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and the benefits estimates are even higher. Given the size and impact of Federal regulation, it is no surprise that Congresses and Presidents have taken a number of actions to refine and reform the regulatory process within the past 25 years. One goal of such initiatives has been to reduce regulatory burdens on affected parties, but other purposes have also played a part. Among these are efforts to require more rigorous analyses of proposed rules and thus provide better information to decision makers, to enhance oversight of rule making by Congress and the President, and to promote greater transparency and participation in the process.”

Sponsor:  Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT-3^rd)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote October 22, 2007

Cost to the taxpayers: No funds are appropriated under this bill.

Earmark Certification:   Not applicable to this bill.

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All Rights Reserved. © 2007 TheWeekInCongress.com.(TM)

No reproduction, language translation or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.(TM)