mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
last year our trade deficit surpassed $ 670 billion . 
our federal budget deficit was more than $ 300 billion , and we saw too many high-quality , good-paying jobs go overseas . 
it has become more and more difficult to keep and create jobs and small businesses here in america . 
and when we look around at what the world is doing , unless we change the environment here in america we are going to become a third-rate economy . 
over the last generation , starting in the 1960s , congress has created barriers to keeping and creating jobs . 
we must remove those barriers . 
mr. chairman , one of those barriers created by congress is bureaucratic red tape . 
others are rising health care costs , education policy , research and development policy , energy policy , unenforceable trade policy , tax policy , and lawsuit abuse . 
my amendment goes to the heart of the problem centered around the unnecessary bureaucratic red tape . 
my amendment is designed to require an outside audit to determine that science is used to develop regulations at the epa that are unbiased and well substantiated . 
at a minimum major rules by the epa should go through a science advisory board and rules should then be audited by a neutral third party to ensure that our environmental regulations are based on scientific facts and not emotional theory . 
there are reporting rules promulgated by the epa that do nothing to protect the environment or the health and well-being of the citizens but cost american businesses hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs . 
one example of an unnecessary burden to the american small businesses is the epa 's toxic release inventory lead rule . 
the rule requires that businesses report annually on how much lead is used . 
not how much lead is emitted into the atmosphere , but how much lead the business uses . 
in june , 2002 , a small business owner from baltimore , maryland testified before the regulatory reform and oversight subcommittee of the committee on small business on how this particular epa reporting rule causes harm to her business . 
we can see how ridiculous and wasteful this epa rule is to our economy without making our air any cleaner . 
nancy klinefelter is president of baltimore glassware decorators . 
her small business specializes in printing small quantities of custom glass and ceramic ware for special occasions . 
some of nancy 's work can even be found in the house gift shop and but because of the epa 's toxics release inventory lead rule , nancy 's business is forced to compile daily records on how much color is used for the mugs because the color contains a very small amount of lead . 
each year her small business has to report to the epa how much lead has been used . 
it costs her about $ 7 , 000 annually and across the nation about $ 70 million every year . 
and what do the americans get for the millions that are spent ? 
cleaner air ? 
no . 
less lead being used ? 
no . 
less exposure to lead by children ? 
no . 
the answer is none of these . 
but all the american people get from these thousands of reports are estimates on how much lead is being consumed , but our air is not any cleaner . 
mr. chairman , with the hopes of working during the conference committee report , i intend to withdraw this amendment because i know it is subject to a point of order . 
i hope that we can work together with the gentleman from north carolina ( chairman taylor ) in the conference report to try to remove some of these unnecessary regulations . 
so , in conclusion , we must not move forward with our government to implement regulatory burdens like this on the american public because it drives jobs overseas , it increases the trade deficit , it reduces the federal revenue , and it moves us toward a third-rate economy . 
mr. chairman , i ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment . 
