{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://adriansmith.house.gov/addressing-regulatory-barriers-success", "Addressing the Regulatory Barriers to Success", "2014-10-10", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "There are many barriers to our increased financial and economic success including time, capital, and taxes.\u00a0 One of the hidden obstacles to economic growth is the built-in cost of federal regulations on the products we buy and costs of living.\u00a0 However, a new study by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is shedding light on the costs of regulation to our economy.\nThe NAM study found federal regulations cost our economy more than $2 trillion per year.\u00a0 While many regulations serve as important safeguards to ensure opportunity, safety, and health, I hear from many Nebraskans about the negative impacts of unnecessary regulations on their lives and livelihoods.\nI launched my Regulation Rewind project earlier this year to track how I am working to address the government-imposed rules directly affecting Nebraskans.\nFor example, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has held up approval of a renewal license for the Crow Butte Mine in Dawes County for more than seven years, and continues to delay decisions on critical expansion sites nearby.\u00a0 The mine has operated safely for more than two decades, producing uranium for our nation\u2019s nuclear fleet and contributing tens of millions of dollars to Nebraska\u2019s economy.\nIn July, I wrote to the NRC along with Senator Johanns and Senator Fischer to request an update on the applications and reasons for the delay.\u00a0 In August, the NRC responded, but only said it hoped to make a decision on the requests next year.\u00a0 Continuing to stall hurts not only the company, but also the community, especially as it relates to education funding.\nOther examples of regulatory overreach include new rules by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which forced the Department of Defense to end the transfer of excess vehicles to state and local firefighting agencies.\u00a0 Through these programs, the Nebraska Forest Service has 570 refurbished vehicles on loan to 250 volunteer fire districts.\u00a0 These vehicles play a critical role in the defense against wildfires for volunteer fire departments which protect 99 percent of Nebraska\u2019s land against wildfires.\nIn response, I joined several of my colleagues in sending a letter to the Department of Defense, which was able to work out an agreement with the EPA to keep this program going.\u00a0 I also cosponsored the Firefighter Equipment Protection Act which would ensure this does not happen again.\nTo learn more about my efforts to overcome the regulatory barriers to Nebraska\u2019s success, please visit my website at: https://adriansmith.house.gov/regulationrewind.\u00a0 And please continue to let me know how government overreach unnecessarily complicates your business or life.\u00a0 Together we can fight back and make a real difference.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://adriansmith.house.gov/addressing-regulatory-barriers-success"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2806360609829426, "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"}