mr. speaker , as a former small businessman , i rise today in support of h.r. 742 and republican efforts to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses , the job engine in this country . 
the federal regulatory burden is strangling small business in america . 
the estimated total regulatory burden in america is now approaching $ 1 trillion a year . 
if we could only save 1 percent of that amount , if that could be returned to the marketplace , that would be enough money to provide capital for 400 , 000 new small businesses . 
or it could pay the annual salaries for over a quarter million of our american workers . 
furthermore , according to the sba , small businesses that employ fewer than 20 workers pay almost $ 7 , 000 each year in regulatory cost for every employee . 
instead of using these funds to create new jobs or pay higher salaries or fund expanded health care benefits , small business owners are increasingly being forced to spend much of it complying with mind-numbing , inflexible , expensive , draconian and all too often just plain dumb federal regulations . 
h.r. 742 will make a difference in a small way in helping level the playing field for small businesses . 
it would require osha to better assess the merits of a case before it brings unnecessary enforcement actions to court against small businesses . 
this act will simply help small business owners to recover attorneys ' fees if the owner successfully challenges a dubious osha citation . 
and there have been a number . 
let us remember , osha does not always get it right . 
these are the folks who alleged that some workers face death or serious physical harm from lifting the top of a sandwich cookie from one assembly line and putting it on the bottom of the cookie on another . 
give me a break . 
mr. speaker , this is a matter of fairness . 
it is a matter of common sense and american jobs . 
i urge all of my colleagues to support small business owners and the millions of americans they employ by voting in favor of h.r. 742 . 
