Continuing the Fight for an Accountable and Transparent Federal Governement

Press Release

Iowa's Third Congressional District is beautiful, stretching from Polk County over to Pottawattamie County and then on down to the border with Missouri - 16 counties in total. I made a pledge when I was elected to visit each county, every month. This is important to me because the voting card I got when I was sworn into Congress has my name on it, but it is not mine. That voting card belongs to you - the people of this great district.

That is exactly why I work so hard to hear from you, because while I am a Republican, I am determined to listen to, and represent, all the people in Iowa's Third Congressional District. Whether it is through my Telephone Town Halls, direct correspondence over email or mail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, the "Coffee With My Congressman" series, in person meetings, whatever the outreach is, that back and forth is so important. Listening to you so I know what you are thinking is a big part of my job.

One area I keep hearing about is costly regulations. And it is not a surprise, Republican and Democrat Administrations alike have issued regulations that strangle our job creators. It should not be a shock that 72% of small businesses reported that regulations were hurting their "operating environment".

This past week, Congress listened to the people. We passed H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act which would require any "major rules" - regulations with an impact of $100 million or more per year on the economy - to be approved by Congress before it could go into effect.

I further strengthened the REINS Act with an amendment that the Congress also passed with bipartisan support. Iowans are always asking me, how do regulators come to these conclusions? What science or data do they use - is it sound science?

My amendment quite simply requires agencies to make available online the data, science, and cost-benefit analysis that a major rule is based upon. This transparency allows everyone access to source information so we can all be on the same page when we talk about these things. No one should be left in the dark.

Any opportunity we can have to make this regulatory and policy process more intentional and deliberate may take longer and require more work, but it creates a better product in the end and a real opportunity to get it right the first time. I've noticed we tend to take a lot of time, resources, and funds in Congress fixing the mistakes of what some people in Washington thought were solutions. I will continue that fight every day I have the privilege of serving as your representative.

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