mr. speaker , i thank the chairman and i appreciate all he does . 
mr. speaker , i rise today in support of all four of the osha reforms bills on the floor . 
these bills contain reforms that will encourage a more collaborative environment in which small business owners and the occupational safety and health administration can work together and , in doing so , improve workplace safety . 
in particular i rise to support h.r. 742 , the small employer access to justice act . 
it would amend the osha act of 1970 to reimburse small employers for attorneys ' fees and costs when they are successful in challenging an osha citation . 
now it is true that the equal access to justice act already allows small business owners to recover attorneys ' fees when a ruling is in the employers favor . 
however , reimbursement for attorney fees is refused if osha can establish that the citation was substantially justified or that special circumstances led to the issuance of citations . 
this loophole means that small businesses are saddled with costly attorneys fees regardless of their innocence . 
small business owners who believe that they have not violated any law are faced with a difficult question . 
should i simply pay the fine or risk possibly incurring greater costs and attorneys fees by challenging this citation ? 
no small business owner should face such a choice , especially if he or she is wrongly accused . 
small business that have violated health or safety laws should be fined . 
it is important that workers should be protect . 
but small business owners that have not broken any laws should not be drained by large attorneys fees that they have accrued in order to contest the citation . 
i ask members to support the osha reform and in particular h.r. 742 so that a fair legal environment can be created for small businesses owners . 
