John Boozman is Arkansas’s senior U.S. Senator and the dean of the state’s Congressional delegation.
A fifth-generation Arkansan, John was raised in Fort Smith and graduated from Northside High School. He went on to play football for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks while completing his pre-optometry requirements. He graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1977 and entered private practice that same year co-founding a family business with his brother that would ultimately become a major provider of eye care to Northwest Arkansas.
Regulations that protect consumers, borrowers and the environment improve the quality of life for all Americans. They ensure we have safe food to eat, access to credit at fair rates and clean air to breathe. We grant the government the ability to make these regulations; but in doing so, we entrust the government to make sensible regulations that do not encroach on our freedoms.
When agencies over-regulate, our economic growth comes to a grinding halt. Overbearing, excessive regulations take farmers away from tending to their crops, slow the lines at manufacturing plants and sap resources that could otherwise be put toward hiring more Americans. Someone who normally would be doing work that creates revenue is taken off task for a considerable amount of time to fill out burdensome paperwork.
Overregulation became the norm during President Obama’s administration. Rather than working with Congress—the direct representatives of the American people—to resolve our country’s issues, President Obama used the regulatory process to enact his own agenda. Under his direction, agencies issued regulations at such a rapid pace that the New York Times dubbed him the “Regulator-in-Chief.”
The constant flow of rules from Pennsylvania Avenue during President Obama’s tenure continuously thwarted Main Street’s attempts to get our economy moving again. One agency alone, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was responsible for regulations over the past eight years that cost the economy over $344 billion. Not content to fade quietly into the night, the Obama administration issued hundreds of rules that came with a price tag of $159 billion in the short time between Election Day and President Trump’s inauguration.
Fortunately, the new administration appears to understand how detrimental poorly-drafted regulations are to our economic growth and Congress has begun the process of repealing the most misguided ones by considering resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. I am committed to working to restore commonsense to the regulatory process and correct the mistakes caused by the Obama administration’s heavy-handed and harsh overregulation.
"Confirming cabinet nominees is another important step that the Senate will play in this process. The new administration shares this view of overregulation and is putting forth nominees who will work support our efforts to address it. Scott Pruitt, the new Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is a perfect example of a someone who will be a strong partner in our efforts.”—Sen. John Boozman, "Rolling Back Regulations," Feb. 22
“The CFPB is in desperate need of reform. The agency’s structure, as established by the Dodd-Frank Act, lacks transparency and accountability. Given that the rules and regulations made by this agency impact the lives of millions of Americans, there must be Congressional oversight.”—Sen. John Boozman, "Boozman Leads Efforts to Hold CFPB Accountable," Feb. 16
"Our farmers and ranchers understand this and are excellent stewards of the environment from which they earn their livelihood. Unfortunately, they are often boxed out of voluntary conservation programs to help accomplish this goal. We can help them protect our shared resources by removing the bureaucratic barriers that keep family farmers from participating in these programs."—Sen. John Boozman, "Boozman, Klobuchar Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Access to Voluntary Farm Conservation Programs," Feb. 16
"For the past eight years, EPA has acted as a political arm of the Obama administration. Time and time again we have seen rules develop not based on sound science but political ideology. When rules are being released, states and [the] private sector and even Congress have had trouble getting EPA to show the science that helped develop these rules.”—Sen. John Boozman, “Boozman Urges EPA Transparency in Confirmation Hearing,” Jan. 18
“Finally, one of the most pressing items on the agenda will be to undo many of the regulations created under the Obama administration that are harming the economy and stifling job creation. Reversing these regulations is going to be a top priority in Congress because it is critical to getting our economy moving in the right direction.”—Sen. John Boozman, “Looking Ahead: What's in Store for 2017,” Jan. 4