Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 4 - Jobs for America Act

(House Rules)

(Rep. Camp, R-Michigan, and 4 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 4, which incorporates several bills that have previously been passed by the House during this Congress, including a number of bills for which the Administration issued Statements of Administration Policy strongly opposing passage and indicating that, if presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto them.

The Administration wants to work with Congress to make progress on measures that strengthen the economy and help middle class families, including pro-growth business tax reform. The Administration continues to support tax proposals that would benefit the Nation's economy and small businesses, such as making permanent the research and experimentation tax credit and increased expensing for small businesses. However, making traditional tax extenders and costly business tax cuts permanent without offsets, while at the same time allowing taxes to increase on 26 million working families, represents the wrong approach.

In addition, the Administration welcomes ideas to improve the Affordable Care Act. However, H.R. 4 would undermine that Act by shifting costs to taxpayers and causing fewer Americans to have employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.

Also, the Administration is committed to ensuring that the benefits of regulation justify their costs and that they are tailored to advance statutory goals in a manner that is efficient, is cost-effective, and minimizes uncertainty. However, H.R. 4 would throw all major regulations into a months-long limbo, marking a significant departure from the longstanding separation of powers between the Executive and Legislative branches and, fostering uncertainty and impeding business investment that is vital to economic growth. Furthermore, the bill would impose other unnecessary requirements on agencies that would seriously undermine their ability to execute their statutory mandates.

Finally, the Administration is committed to sound long-term management of Federal lands for continued productivity and economic benefit, as well as for the long-term health of the wildlife and ecological values sustained by these holdings. However, H.R. 4 includes numerous harmful provisions that would impair responsible management of Federally-owned lands and undermine many important existing public land and environmental laws, rules, and processes.

If the President were presented with H.R. 4, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.