Roscoe Bartlett

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my proffer of the amendment.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. That is correct. The chairman indicated that he supports the intent of our amendment, that what we want to accomplish could be effectively accomplished with report language, and with his assurance that that report language will be developed, we are prepared to withdraw our offer of the amendment.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. It is No. 27 in the Record.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Chairman, I was asked to submit the amendment now. It is a perfecting amendment.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment numbered 27 of the amendment as modified, as amended.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. All right. Mr. Chairman, my amendment was really quite a simple one. It merely instructs the Commission to examine whether unbiased science is used when enforcing the State implementation plans such as other emissions testing under the Clean Air Act.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Yes. If I could move to strike the last word, I think we could dispense with it very easily.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5. This bill is a good start, it is not the full journey, but it is a good start. The vigorous debate opposing this bill is more than a little interesting since this Congress has for many years exempted itself from essentially all of these mandates. As Members know, the cost of these unfunded Federal mandates is exorbitantly expensive, costing the American taxpayer all of his income between Tax free day, which last year was May 27, and Government free day, which last year was July 10. That is about 6 weeks of his time. Just one other point I would like to make and that is that the only conscience in this country does not reside here in Washington. States and local jurisdictions are perfectly capable of regulating themselves in terms of their environment, their health and their welfare. They do not need Big Brother here dictating to them.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, when the average American learns that Congress does not have to live under all of the laws and regulations that all of our citizens live under, they are appalled. They understand how difficult it is for a Congress to effectively legislate when they live isolated from the effects of the laws and the regulations that those laws produce. At the first day of the last Congress, I submitted legislation that would apply to Congress all the laws and the regulations that they have applied to all of the rest of us and exempted themselves from. Several others submitted similar legislation. They were all combined in the Shays-Swett bill which passed the last Congress. Unfortunately, that died because of lack of action by the Senate. So I was very pleased when at about 2 in the morning on the first long legislative day of this Congress that we passed that bill. We are now met today to discuss a bill from the Senate that embodies all of the essential features of the bill that we passed in the last Congress and again on that first long day of this Congress. I am very pleased to rise in strong support of this bill. This is a great victory for the American people, because what it means is that from henceforth they are going to have a Congress that lives under the laws and the regulations that they passed, that all of the rest of the country has to live under, and the Congress is going to be much more effective in passing laws and in producing regulations through those laws when they have to live under all of the laws and regulations that they produce. This bill does not do all that we need to do in reforming the Congress and producing congressional reliability but it certainly takes the first long, long step in the right direction. I am very pleased today to rise in strong support of this legislation.

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1, the Congressional Accountability Act. In the 103d Congress, I was an original sponsor of this legislation along with my colleague Mr. Shays and am proud to be speaking on the House floor after 2 years of diligent work. This bill is, quite frankly, long overdue. H.R. 1 is simple and straightforward--it makes us comply with the same laws we impose on the private sector including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and OSHA. It is my view that Member of Congress should be treated the same as our laws treat the American people. If the laws we pass are good enough for our constituents, then they should be good enough for their Representative in Congress. If these laws are so onerous, Congress should simply stop passing them. I believe we must go further than this bill in reforming Congress. However, H.R. 1 is a giant step in the right direction and I commend all those responsible for bringing this bill to fruition.