Tools to get the job done
** U.S. Representative Jason Smith, R-8th District, files a weekly column each week the legislature is in session.
This week, the United States House of Representatives will play host for President Trump’s first formal address to the Joint Session of Congress.
It is anticipated that the President will outline the many steps he and Congress will be taking in the coming months to help get millions of Americans back into the workforce.
While investments in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure will be discussed, along with a lowering of the crushing tax burden felt by families and farmers, some steps – like reducing the regulatory red tape stifling growth in this country – have already begun.
In the days surrounding the President’s formal address, the House of Representatives will simultaneously take up and advance legislation I have authored known as the Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome Act or SCRUB Act for short. This law would help compliment and codify much of the work President Trump has already taken in his first 30 days in office to reduce the impact unelected Washington bureaucrats are having on the lives of everyday Americans.
During his first full week in office, on January 30th President Trump authored Executive Order, “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Agency Regulatory Costs”. Among other things, a key component of that order was a calling for the removal of two regulations for every new one proposed. The SCRUB Act sets up a commission of those directly impacted by Washington regulations to help the White House identify those regulations which should be removed – giving the President the tools to reduce regulations which are duplicative, burdensome and holding back innovation, entrepreneurism and growth in this country.
The facts we know are indisputable – regulations are costing the American economy close to $2 trillion, or $15,000 per household with farmers and small business owners across the country citing ‘regulations’ as a major impactor on their business and bottom line. We know that with bipartisan support the SCRUB Act passed the House of Representatives already last year. And finally, we know that if the liberal leader of the Senate, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, would simply let his Democrat colleagues vote their conscience, policies which reduce the headache Washington regulations are causing for millions of American families, like the SCRUB Act, would be on President Trump’s desk before summer.
Unfortunately obstructing the progress and advancement of policies which shrink the size of Washington and get our economy moving again has been the playbook of the liberals in Washington since the day Donald Trump stepped into office. With an eye already to the 2020 elections, Senators like Elizabeth Warren have joined with Schumer to make this one of the slowest presidential cabinet confirmation processes in recent history. They have objected to common sense policies like the REINS Act which would require congressional approval for any regulation costing more than $100 million. Simply put, they are more interested in playing political games than in working with our newly elected President to change the course in Washington which millions of Americans supported, called for, and voted for this past November.
I am hopeful that after Tuesday night, those Washington insiders and Senators bent on obstruction will re-evaluate why their districts and states sent them to Washington. I am hopeful they will consider supporting the legislation, policies, laws, and nominations which will help alleviate the burden of an oversized federal government which taxes, regulates and spends too much. I know in the House of Representatives, with the passage of policies like the SCRUB Act, we are committed to giving President Trump the tools and resources he needs to enact the change in Washington that myself and millions of Americans have been overwhelmingly calling for.
