madam speaker , i appreciate the opportunity to talk on this bill . 
i want to commend the chairman for his work in this area and commend the gentleman from georgia ( mr. norwood ) xz4002960 , who has labored long and hard on these issues . 
let me make a few points initially before i talk about the merits of the bill . 
i think it is important for people to appreciate that no one , no one , is interested in trivializing the issue of safety in the workplace . 
we are interested in improving workplace safety and in holding businesses accountable when they are at fault , not just because . 
no one is interested in trivializing this issue . 
no one is putting a price tag on life . 
that has been mentioned . 
no one is putting a price tag on life here , and no one is interested in giving employers a pass . 
they also talked about a legal loophole . 
this is not a legal loophole . 
what this does is simply put faith in small business , and it shifts the burden of proof to the accuser , where it should be . 
there was some analogy drawn to a court of law . 
what this does is shift the burden of proof to the accuser , that is , osha , where it should be . 
the bill will not weaken osha either . 
it will simply allow small business a fair opportunity for a fair hearing when it is cited , and that is it . 
i rise in support of h.r. 739 . 
the magnitude of this bill is huge : 99.7 percent of all businesses are small businesses , 99.7 percent . 
seventy-five percent of all new jobs come from small business , three out of every four jobs . 
in talking about this before and in researching this , i went back and looked at the original osha act . 
the original osha act in 1970 said that it was to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by authorizing enforcement of the standards developed under the act . 
the mission today as described by osha on their web site is to ensure the safety and health of america 's workers by setting and enforcing standards . 
do the members notice the difference ? 
we have shifted who is setting the standards from congress to a nonelected body . 
i think this is a lot of power . 
a lot of power . 
the osha budget is $ 468 million , 1 , 100 inspectors out of 2 , 200 employees . 
a lot of power . 
as has been mentioned , currently if a citation is given , the employer is given 15 days to respond . 
this is an arbitrary time frame . 
nobody can argue that . 
there really is no rationale for those 15 days . 
why not 5 ? 
why not 35 ? 
why not make it fair to small business ? 
this is a simple commonsense amendment . 
eleven words is all the amendment is , 11 words . 
it would add that `` unless such failure results from mistake , inadvertence , surprise , or excusable neglect , '' 11 little words . 
a commonsense amendment , which i am sorry to say is oftentimes all too uncommon around here . 
it does not mean that any citation is null and void . 
it does not mean that at all . 
it simply means that small business has an opportunity to get its fair day in court . 
so in closing , madam speaker , i want to commend once again the gentleman from georgia ( mr. norwood ) xz4002960 for the hard work he has done and the gentleman from ohio ( chairman boehner ) for bringing this issue to the floor . 
i urge all of my colleagues to support h.r. 739 and do it for small business and for the employees and jobs in our nation . 
