Senator Warner, who recently called for a “pay as you go” approach to reduce unnecessary, duplicative and outdated government regulations, offered support today for the President’s Executive Order outlining a new regulatory strategy and urged the Administration to move even more aggressively to cut unnecessary government red tape.   

Senator Warner, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee’s bipartisan Task Force on Government Performance, is working on legislation first outlined in an opinion column published by The Washington Post on December 13, 2010, requiring federal agencies to identify and eliminate one existing regulation for each new regulation they seek to implement.

“I spent 20 years in the business world, and I know that any company that does not periodically review its operations or look for ways to improve its procedures will not survive very long. Efforts to apply more common-sense to our regulatory approach can go a long way toward addressing the uncertainty that has kept the U.S. business community from participating more fully in our nation's economic recovery,” Senator Warner said.

“The regulatory framework announced by the White House today is a promising first step to adopt a more rational approach to government oversight, but we can and should go even further. I have spoken with OMB Director Jack Lew about these proposals, and he shares my view that existing regulations must be  reviewed from time-to-time to determine if  they are still necessary and crafted effectively. If they are not, they should  be changed or repealed.

“I will continue to urge the Administration to act even more aggressively on regulatory reform. No one is talking about reducing or removing effective protections of the public’s health and safety, but we need to be able to get rid of the old, stale regulations that inhibit economic growth.

“Today’s White House proposal, like my own, recognizes that protecting the rights and safety of American consumers is entirely consistent with growth, job creation and innovation, which should be our top priorities today.”