{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-400000-grant-reduce-regulations-armenia-latest-waste-report/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers $400,000 Grant to Reduce Regulations in Armenia in Latest \u2018The Waste Report\u2019", "2015-12-07", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition to \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nThe latest edition reveals the U.S. Agency for International Development\u2019s expenditure of approximately $400,000 in grants to reduce and streamline the regulatory burdens for businesses in Armenia. However, at the same time, other agencies of the government are increasing the pace of expanding regulations at home and spending tens of billions of dollars to enforce them every year.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nAfter years of complaints from across the country about the burdens of over-regulation, the federal government is finally cracking down and taking a \u201cguillotine\u201d to the regulatory colossus\u2014only in Armenia, and not in the United States.\n\nIn a glaring display of contradiction, the U.S. Agency for International Development has backed approximately $400,000 in grants to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to reduce and streamline the regulatory burdens on businesses in Armenia.[1]\n\nIt should be noted, of course, that eliminating burdensome regulations is generally a good thing. In fact, the \u201cguillotine,\u201d as it is known, applies important criteria to regulations, such as whether a regulation is legal, necessary, and business-friendly.[2] This is obviously criteria that our own federal government should be applying to regulations here at home. Unfortunately, the American taxpayer will have to wait to see their tax dollars support U.S. regulatory reform at home.\n\nIn fact, while the federal government is funding a \u201cregulatory guillotine\u201d in foreign countries, the Obama administration is adding approximately 81 major regulations annually, which is just slightly worse than the 62 added annually under President Bush.[3]\n\nAnd what is a major regulation? Well, according to law, it costs the economy at least $100 million in economic activity, creates a major cost increase for consumers, or has an adverse effect on employment and the competitiveness of American businesses.[4] In total, it is estimated that regulations cost the American economy $1.88 trillion annually.[5] Aside from the cost to the economy, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University estimates that the federal government itself spends almost $50 billion creating and enforcing regulations.[6]\n\nOne would justifiably assume that Armenia is suffering under a terrible regulatory climate if it requires intervention from our government. Armenia is trying to address about 25,000 laws and regulations hindering business. Project documents note this number is burdensome and that, \u201c[o]bviously, the creation of open competitive market[s] require simple and transparent rules for doing business.\u201d\n\nHow, then, does the U.S. stack up? According to Regdata.org, the U.S. has over 1.04 million regulations,[7] or over 40 times the number of crushing regulations as Armenia.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:33:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-400000-grant-reduce-regulations-armenia-latest-waste-report/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.334457891061902, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}