Regulatory Impediments to Job Creation - United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

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.

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In his State of the Union Address, President Obama highlighted the importance of making America a better place to do business saying, “to help our companies compete, we also have to knock down barriers that stand in the way of their success. To reduce barriers to growth and investment, I’ve ordered a review of government regulations. When we find rules that put an unnecessary burden on businesses, we will fix them…” At the end of last year, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, launched an effort to bring the voice of job creators nationwide directly to Washington by asking for their input through correspondences as well as through the launch of www.AmericanJobCreators.com. Today, Chairman Issa made all of the submissions he has received public, so that both policymakers and the American people can evaluate for themselves the merits of the input job creators have made.

SEE BELOW for submissions Chairman Issa has received

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“The President has recognized the value in examining the regulatory barriers impeding private sector job creation. This project should complement what President Obama has already called on his Administration to do and in concert, lead to a robust and expansive discussion about what the best way forward is to stimulate our economy,” Chairman Issa said. “Policymakers often hear anecdotal examples from job creators about how government regulations impede the type of permanent, private-sector job creation necessary to successfully lower unemployment. This project is an opportunity for private industry to put forward detailed and specific examples so that both the American people and policymakers can determine for themselves what actions can be taken to create jobs.”

Beginning with the end of last year, Chairman Issa sent a letter to more than 160 trade associations, private companies, and think tanks asking for their input on what they perceive to be regulatory barriers that impede their ability to create jobs. Click here for a list of the entities who either received or asked for the letter to provide input.