The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ENSURING TRAFFIC SAFETY--H.R. 5164” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Senate section on pages S11562 on Dec. 5, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ENSURING TRAFFIC SAFETY--H.R. 5164
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, in the weeks since Congress passed H.R. 5164, the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act, and it was signed into law by the President, questions have been raised by some of my colleagues about the impact of the bill on small business. I want to make clear my intentions toward small manufacturers in passing this legislation.
Obviously, the bill is not intended to result in burdensome and ineffective regulations on small businesses or any size business for that matter. I would expect the Department of Transportation in establishing the regulations under the bill to go through the normal analysis required under existing law to ensure that regulations are not overly burdensome but are effective in advancing the cause of safety.
Let me be clear, however, the primary purpose of this bill and the Department of Transportation is to ensure the safety of the traveling public. No priority can or should be higher as the agency crafts these new regulations. I hope this responds to any concerns my colleagues may have about the provisions of the bill.
Mr. BOND. I thank the Senator and agree without reservation that the purpose of this legislation is to increase safety on the highways. No one in the small business community supports allowing defective auto parts or automobiles to be allowed on the road. After all, small businesses, their employees, and their owners are some of the drivers of the vehicles that would be identified under this law, and they are the other drivers on the road with these vehicles. They care as much as anyone else about highway safety. Without question, the safety of our roadways is one of our highest priorities.
I would just like to add one clarification. When the Department of Transportation promulgates the regulations required by this act, it is required under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
(SBREFA) to determine whether the regulations will have ``a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.'' If the regulations rise to that level, the Department is required to conduct an initial regulatory flexibility analysis and a final regulatory flexibility analysis as described in SBREFA so that the impacts on small businesses can be identified and better understood. None of the requirements under SBREFA are intended to, or have been shown to, interfere in any way with an agency's regulatory objectives. In this case they would not impede, in any way, the Department of Transportation's ability to provide the maximum safety improvement on the highways as mandated under the TREAD Act.
This is the current law and is consistent with the provision in the TREAD Act which prohibits the Department of Transportation from issuing unnecessarily burdensome regulations. I just want to make it clear that we will be watching closely to make sure that the Department of Transportation adheres to the mandates of SBREFA.
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