Representative Henry Waxman’s (D-CA) political games on the Keystone XL pipeline project is only setting Americans back in their quest to find jobs — good paying jobs.  Continued attempts by the Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce committee to cause a distraction by focusing on whether or not certain companies stand to benefit from this project is deplorable.  Americans stand to benefit.  More than 20,000 jobs will be created in manufacturing and construction, not to mention the 118,000 spin-off jobs that will also be created.  Manufacturers use one-third of our nation’s energy supply and the construction of the pipeline will provide a new source of affordable energy to manufacturers.

So let’s stop playing games. Politicians can no longer claim the need to create jobs for Americans while simultaneously using their position to stand in the way of common sense projects that would do exactly that.  America is prosperous because the private-sector fuels our economy and creates jobs — this Keystone XL pipeline project is no different.

Jay Timmons is president and CEO, National Association of Manufacturers.

Leaders of the House Energy & Commerce Committee – Chairman Upton (R-MI) and Reps. Whitfield (R-KY) and Stearns (R-FL) – sent a letter to  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson asking pointed questions about her voluntary choice to establish more stringent National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone as the economy struggles to emerge from the worst recession in a generation. The letter states:

“Your choice to promulgate alternate costly new standards outside of the Clean Air Act’s normal five year review cycle defies common sense. The discretionary basis for such expensive decisions also raises serious questions about the Administration’s priorities at a time when the nation’s focus should be on economic recovery and job creation.”

The lawmakers also stated they will be using the information to prepare for a serious of hearings on the ozone standards after August recess.

Manufacturers are thrilled with the Committee’s plans to hold hearings on the proposed ozone standards which, if set at 60 parts-per-billion, could cost 7.3 million jobs by 2020 and add $1 trillion per year in new regulatory burdens between 2020 and 2030. While the EPA had initially planned to finalize the standard by July 29, significant pressure from the NAM and other industry groups have caused the agency to delay the final standard until sometime in August. We urge manufacturers to take action, and write President Obama in opposition to this completely discretionary new ozone standard that is the most expensive regulation ever proposed by any Administration or Agency.

Alicia Meads is director of energy and resources policy, National Association of Manufacturers

With the grim announcement today of the unemployment rate ticking up to 9.1 percent and only 54,000 jobs created in May, nearly 100,000 short of the estimated number, the issues of creating jobs by putting our domestic energy companies back to work is taking center stage in Congress.

Yesterday, in the House of Representatives, offshore drilling was the hot topic with three committees holding hearings on the issue. Manufacturers know that resuming drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and increasing domestic energy production will help invigorate our embattled economy and add more jobs to the payrolls.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a measure yesterday to streamline permitting for offshore drilling operations and to eliminate the bureaucratic red tape that holds up new exploration and production. According to the Committee, the measure will help create jobs and increase domestic energy supplies.

In the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Chairman Issa released a report critical of the BP/Administration Response to the Gulf Oil Spill and also held a hearing assessing the recovery efforts after the spill. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and Director Michael Bromwich from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement at the Department of the Interior, both testified.

And in round three of hearings, the House Natural Resources Committee , Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on Alaskan oil and gas drilling, and the need for faster action in the permitting process. The subcommittee stressed the importance of expediting exploration and production to reduce dependence on foreign oil and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

As summer goes on and gas prices hover around four dollars a gallon, unemployment continues to tick up, the cost of goods and services rises, domestic energy production will continue to remain in the forefront of congressional debates.

Today the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing & Trade favorably reported out sensible reforms to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Since the law’s passage in 2008, the CPSC has had to stay significant portions of the law to prevent several unintended consequences. The most troubling of those unintended effects was to ban safe children’s products like bicycles, ATVs, musical instruments and even library books. None of the supporters of the law believe that these actions were intentional, nor did they intend to eliminate the sale of all children’s products by charitable organizations like Goodwill.

Another unintended consequence has been the amount and cost of unnecessary testing which has forced some micro-businesses to close their doors and continues to provide costly uncertainty to small manufacturers throughout the supply chain. Additionally, the CPSC overreached on its implementation of a public database and failed to incorporate congressionally-mandated protections to prevent its improper use by trial lawyers and advocacy groups. The CPSC also failed to implement appropriate controls to prevent false information from being included in the database. The National Association of Manufacturers applauds the Subcommittee for this legislative effort and will continue to work with Democrats and Republicans on the Committee to ensure swift passage of needed reforms.

Rosario Palmieri is vice president for infrastructure, legal and regulatory policy, National Association of Manufacturers.

More than two years after the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act became law, driving children’s bikes off the market, children’s book off library shelves, and home-based craftsmen out of business — to name just a few of its many excesses — a Congressional committee is finally going to vote on an CPSIA fix. From the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade:

Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee to Vote on Improvements to Consumer Safety Law THURSDAY

May 11, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, chaired by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), has scheduled a markup of the Discussion Draft of H.R. ___, “Enhancing CPSC Authority and Discretion Act of 2011 (ECADA).” The markup will convene on Thursday, May 12, at 9:00 a.m. in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The draft legislation would revise the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) and seeks to give Consumer Product Safety Commission greater authority and flexibility to regulate based on risk.

The discussion draft of the legislation is available here. A background memo explains further: “The draft legislation’s objectives are: to reduce the regulatory burdens created by CPSIA where possible to do so without harming consumers; to enhance the Consumer Production Safety Commission’s (CPSC) ability to investigate complaints and to prioritize based on risk; and, to improve the utility and accuracy of information in the CPSC’s public database.” (continue reading…)

The House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning released a discussion draft of legislation to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Congress passed the CPSIA in 2008 with overwhelming support only to discover that the law’s ham-handed approach to regulating children’s products did enormous damage to businesses and consumers alike, driving ATVs and kids bikes off the market, pre-1985 children’s books out libraries, warm jackets out of thrift stores and small craftspeople — like knitters and hand-made toy manufacturers — out of business.

Grossly expensive testing requirements also increase costs of manufactured goods to consumers with no discernible safety benefits.

In many cases, the Consumer Product Safety Commission sought to minimize the harm of the law’s overreach by granting stays of enforcement. However, the CPSC’s discretion is limited by the clear — if unreasonable — language of the statute. It’s up to Congress to reform and repair the law.

(In one prominent case, however, the CPSC far exceeded its authority, developing a product safety complaint database with loosey-goosey reporting standards that invite the filing of false and inaccurate complaints. Trial lawyers and their “consumer activist” allies are delighted, but the CPSC’s overreach puts companies’ reputation at risk. We’re glad to see the draft bill include a section that could correct the CPSC’s bad decision.)

Two entire years, 2009 and 2010, passed without Congress doing much of anything to fix the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, despite the law’s many, serious excesses. Jobs were destroyed for no good reason, yet the 111th Congress failed to act.

It’s still early, but the draft legislation from the Energy and Commerce Committee represents the most significant progress made to improve the CPSIA. With a legislative vehicle to work on, the House can move forward with hearings and intensive work with industry groups and individuals affected by the law’s excesses. (continue reading…)

Washington Post, “EPA chief Lisa Jackson perpetually on Capitol Hill hot seat“:

Republicans say that studies such as one by two manufacturers’ groups projected that 7 million jobs would be lost in the decade beginning in 2020 if their client organizations are forced to pay up to $1 trillion to meet the EPA’s ozone standards, said Alicia Meads, director of energy and resource policy for the National Association of Manufacturers. Meads also cited a study by the Council for Industrial Boiler Owners that said 16,000 jobs would be lost for every $1 billion spent to comply with EPA boiler regulations.

“We consider it an overreach,” Meads said. “This administration has been extremely aggressive in environmental regulations, and it’s very hard for our members to keep up with them.”

Wall Street Journal, “EPA Tangles with New Critic: Labor“:

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration’s environmental agenda, long a target of American business, is beginning to take fire from some of the Democratic Party’s most reliable supporters: Labor unions.

Several unions with strong influence in key states are demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency soften new regulations aimed at pollution associated with coal-fired power plants. Their contention: Roughly half a dozen rules expected to roll out within the next two years could put thousands of jobs in jeopardy and damage the party’s 2012 election prospects.

House Energy and Commerce news release, March 8, “Upton, Inhofe Question Process for Reconsidering EPA’s Ozone Standards“: (continue reading…)

This morning the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power approved the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 (H.R. 910) by a voice vote. This legislation prevents the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act.

Manufacturers are facing tremendous uncertainty and potential permitting delays as the EPA moves forward with its regulation of GHG emissions. The EPA also has made it clear that it will continue to manipulate its authority under the Clean Air Act to require GHG emission reductions from existing facilities, placing unrealistic and unnecessary overregulation on manufacturers. This will only result in a stifling of economic growth, a substantial spike in energy prices, and ultimately, additional job losses.

NAM is encouraged the Energy and Tax Prevention Act has passed the subcommittee and we hope this legislation will continue to move swiftly through the legislative process.

The House Judiciary Committee continues to work on H.R. 5, the medical liability reform package, today in an afternoon mark-up session. We wish them well on the effort. Liability reform will help control the rising costs of health care, and this specific piece of legislation — called the HEALTH Act — contains important protections for drugmakers and medical device manufacturers. The language reflects the understanding that drugs and devices are sold into interstate commerce, approved and regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration, and once demonstrated as safe should not be subject to trial lawyers’ efforts to use state courts to play litigation lottery.

Section 7 of the legislation, Punitive Damages, sets guidelines on punitive damage awards in health care lawsuits, including limits so punitive damages awards do not exceed the greater of $250,000 or twice economic damages.

Manufacturers of drugs and medical devices are most interested in paragraph (c), “No Punitive Damages for Products That Comply With FDA Standards.

(1) IN GENERAL-

(A) No punitive damages may be awarded against the manufacturer or distributor of a medical product, or a supplier of any component or raw material of such medical product, based on a claim that such product caused the claimant’s harm where–

(i)(I) such medical product was subject to premarket approval, clearance, or licensure by the Food and Drug Administration with respect to the safety of the formulation or performance of the aspect of such medical product which caused the claimant’s harm or the adequacy of the packaging or labeling of such medical product; and

(II) such medical product was so approved, cleared, or licensed; or

(ii) such medical product is generally recognized among qualified experts as safe and effective pursuant to conditions established by the Food and Drug Administration and applicable Food and Drug Administration regulations, including without limitation those related to packaging and labeling, unless the Food and Drug Administration has determined that such medical product was not manufactured or distributed in substantial compliance with applicable Food and Drug Administration statutes and regulations.

Trial lawyers have long sought to bring suits against drug and device makers into state courts, seeking venues and judges that favor the plaintiffs and huge damage awards. In the 2008 decision in Riegel v. Medtronic, the U.S. Supreme Court limited such state suits against manufacturers of medical devices that had received pre-market approval from the FDA. The court ruled that Congress had specifically preempted the devices from state regulation under § 360k(a) of the Medical Device Amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

This decision was critical in affirming the principle of federal preemption, which provides effective protections for public health and safety. Congress has determined that the FDA is the proper authority with the available resources to regulate drugs and devices in interstate commerce.  Lawsuits in state courts in effect create a 50-state system of regulation for these devices and drugs, full of inconsistencies, capricious enforcement and unjustified damage awards. (No wonder the American Association for Justice and other trial lawyer lobbyists sought to reverse the Riegel decision last Congress with the so-called Medical Device Safety Act. Thankfully, they failed.)

The language in H.R. 5, Section 7, paragraph(c) draws on that general principle of preemption for its “safe harbor” language. It holds that companies that manufacture drugs and devices recognized as safe by the FDA have by definition gone through the careful development, testing and approval — the due diligence — that demonstrate the companies did not behave in a way to justify punitive damages. The legislation provides a measure of protection for companies so they can manufacture effective drugs and devices. It’s exactly the kind of medical liability reform that will reduce costs while ensuring a dynamic market that innovates and creates live-saving products.

UPDATE (4:50 p.m.): The House Judiciary Committee just voted 16-20 to defeat an amendment offered by Reps. Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) to strike  Section 7. Rep. Franks (R-AZ) successfully opposed against the amendment, making a similar case as argued above.

We write often about the combine of trial lawyers, politicians, activists and PR flacks, aided by a sympathetic media, campaigning against companies in hopes of a cash payout and the expansion of the regulatory state. The attacks against Toyota provide a good example of this pernicious phenomenon.

Today, the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration announced the results of an in-depth scientific study that found no basis for the claims that vehicles’ electronic systems produced unintended acceleration. (Toyota statement.) Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said: “We enlisted the best and brightest engineers to study Toyota’s electronics systems, and the verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas.”

Organizers of the corporate calumny against Toyota should be held accountable. The trial lawyers and their allies damaged the company’s reputation and sales, created unnecessary fears in the American public, and added to the “tort tax” that afflicts the U.S. economy.

Let’s start with the trial lawyers. The American Association for Justice, the main trial lawyer lobby, kept up a steady attack against Toyota, even dedicating the September 2010 cover of its monthly magazine, Trial, to the unfounded charges, “Toyota’s Deadly Secrets.” Just search the AAJ website for the term “Toyota” to see the unceasing promotion of litigation — class action suits, product liability suits, insurance complaints, even RICO claims.

The trial lawyer campaign was amplified last year by then-Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. A subcommittee hearing in February 2010, “Response by Toyota and NHTSA to Incidents of Sudden Unintended Acceleration,” painted the company as an offender, failing to meet its corporate responsibilities. Another hearing in May repeated the allegations, complete with the release of subpoenaed documents that served the purposes of anti-Toyota litigation. The House Oversight Committee also promoted the charges, holding a hearing in February, “Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?” The answer was no. (continue reading…)