Congressman Cramer Leads Panel Discussion at Regulatory Improvement Council

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer led a panel discussion at a meeting of CEOs and executives affiliated with the National Association of Manufacturers. The 2013 Strategy and Action Session, hosted by the Regulatory Improvement Council, featured remarks from Cramer along with White House Office of Information and Regulatory Analysis (OIRA) Administrator Howard Shelanski and George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center Director Susan Dudley.

Cramer told the audience of leading executives in finance, research, government affairs the concepts which make North Dakota a model of economic success can be applied around the country. He related his experience as a North Dakota Public Service Commissioner and said the federal government including Congress should listen to those affected by regulation and embrace transparency.

“Transparency is the greatest backstop to corruption in the world,” Cramer said during his remarks. “When I was a Public Service Commissioner, we held hearings in the communities most affected by the investment. If it was a wind farm, we had a hearing in the town closest to the wind farm. If it was a pipeline, we had hearings in multiple counties. You get trained pretty quickly in the value of listening to people. The bureaucracy we are dealing with in Washington is much more sophisticated and complex, but the idea of listening to people affected by regulation is quite profound.”

The Regulatory Improvement Council aims to shape the federal regulatory system by meeting and collaborating with the White House Office of Management and Budget and its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), keeping an open dialogue between the private sector and the Obama Administration.