This week the House of Representatives took action to stop government abuse that is threatening American’s liberty and their hard-earned paychecks. During my short time in Washington I have been truly appalled by the power of federal agencies and the influence they have over every American. Chief among my goals in the House of Representatives is to give American families relief from unnecessary and ineffective regulatory burdens.
Regulations from Washington harm our liberties right here in rural Missouri. In August I was contacted by a pastor from our district. The pastor wanted me to know the National Park Service was requiring him to give 48 hours’ notice and apply for a permit before he could perform baptism services in the Current River. Keep in mind that people do not need a permit to float on the river, swim or to have any other gathering. The permit was only required for baptism services. After I got involved, the Park Service did rescind the permit requirement. The permit requirement was ridiculous from the beginning, but it is even more ridiculous that it took action from a Member of Congress to get the requirement rescinded.
In addition to hurting our liberties, regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are killing Missouri jobs and hurting rural America. In December, new regulations from the EPA forced the closure of a lead smelter in Herculaneum. The Herculaneum smelter was the last remaining lead smelter in the entire United States. So now, we can still mine lead here in Missouri but we have to send the lead to China where it can be smelted down. I just hope China doesn’t decide to stop sending lead back to the United States to be used in ammunition and batteries. Unfortunately, the EPA is also rejecting clean coal technology and issuing strict standards for new coal-fired electric generating plants. The new standards essentially guarantee no new coal-fired plants will be built. Over 84% of the folks in our district rely on coal-fired power plants. If we cannot use the reliable energy coal provides, lights across rural Missouri and all of rural America will be out. Most recently the EPA has decided the 12 million wood-burning stoves in America need to be regulated. New burn standards from the EPA would mean that nearly all of the wood-burning stove in America would need to be replaced.
During my short time in Washington I have become convinced that we must put an end to the unnecessary and ineffective regulations and the Obama executive actions that stifle creativity and limit our freedoms. In 1960 the Federal Register included 22,000 pages of regulations. Today there are over 174,000 pages of federal regulations. This week the House of Representatives voted to stop the government abuses that threaten our liberties and kill jobs. Conservatives in the House will continue fighting excessive regulatory burdens and overreach from the Obama Administration.
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