|
Chairman Issa’s Hearing Preview Statement
Thursday’s hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, entitled “Regulatory Impediments to Job Creation,” presents an opportunity for policymakers to hear important testimony from the front lines of our economic recovery. Despite the President’s promise that the stimulus would keep unemployment below 8 percent and grow the GDP to more than $15.2 trillion, the US economy has experienced negligible gains while the prospect for new jobs continues to look grim. The unemployment rate has been above 9 percent for 21 consecutive months, and some critical industries in manufacturing, construction, trucking, and retail are now double the national rate.
Congress has a responsibility to make policy with our eyes and ears open. We must know about the real world effects that the laws we pass, and the regulations that flow from them, have on American job creators.
At Thursday’s hearing, we will listen to representatives of the small business community, vital trade associations, and leading experts who know firsthand the burden that regulation puts on job creators. Fortunately, the President has started to listen too. At his State of the Union, he called for a government-wide examination of regulations to “help our companies compete” and to “knock down barriers that stand in the way of their success.”
I welcome the President’s openness in this regard, and the Oversight Committee will seek to partner with the Administration to expose job-killing regulations and reopen our economy to the entrepreneurial spirit of the American people.
|
