Remarks on Signing Legislation Under the Congressional Review Act

The President. Well, thank you very much. And thank you, everybody, for being here. I want to welcome many State and local leaders; and we've had them all over the White House today, and it's a great honor—including Governor Eric Greitens of Missouri; Governor Gary Herbert of Utah; Lieutenant Governor Jenean Hampton of Kentucky—we're all at the White House, and we're all doing something very, very important today.

I'm signing four bills under the Congressional Review Act. Before this administration, only one time in our history had a President signed a bill that used the CRA to cancel a Federal regulation. So we're doing a lot of them, and they deserve to be done.

First, House Joint Resolution 37 rolls back the so-called blacklisting rule. When I met with manufacturers earlier this year—and they were having a hard time, believe me—they said this blacklisting rule was one of the greatest threats to growing American business and hiring more American workers. It was a disaster, they said. This rule made it too easy for trial lawyers to get rich by going after American companies and American workers who contract with the Federal Government, making it very difficult. Do you all know what I'm talking about, right?

Participants: Yes, sir. Absolutely.

The President. Does everybody agree? [Laughter]

The next three bills I'm signing cancel three Federal power grabs that centralize decisionmaking in Washington away from States and local governments, another big disaster.

House Joint Resolution 44 removes a Bureau of Land Management rule that took control of land-use decisions away from States and local decisionmakers and gave it to Washington, and that's not good. That's never good. [Laughter] History has proven that's not good. Is that right?

Participant. Right.

The President. Even though you're from Washington, you know that. [Laughter] Even you will admit. Right?

Senator Ronald H. Johnson. I'm from Wisconsin. [Laughter]

Representative Virginia A. Foxx. No, we're not.

The President. Why not! You—that's right.

Rep. Foxx. We work in Washington.

The President. Definitely from Wisconsin, as opposed to—you have your choice.

The other two bills—House Joint Resolutions 57 and 58—eliminate harmful burdens on State and local taxes on school systems that could have cost States hundreds of millions of dollars. So it's the States and local tax—school systems, and that was very important. Parents, teachers, communities, and State leaders know the needs of their students better than anyone in Washington by far. So we're removing these additional layers of bureaucracy to encourage more freedom and innovation in our schools. I will keep working with Congress, with every agency, and most importantly, with the American people until we eliminate every unnecessary, harmful, and job-killing regulation that we can find. We have a lot more coming. It's going to be happening—[inaudible].

Thank you. Where are those bills? Bring out those bills. Put them right here. Perfect. Thank you.

This one you all know—joint resolution.

[At this point, the President signed H.J. Res. 37.]

The President. Oh, that's going to save a lot of jobs. [Laughter]

Participant. There we go. [Applause]

The President. Who gets this pen?

Rep. Foxx. I do. [Laughter] Now, thank you, Mr. President.

The President. That's okay. Thank you.

[The President signed H.J. Res. 44.]

The President. Okay?

[Representative Elizabeth L. Cheney spoke briefly to the President and took the pen from his hand, followed by laughter from the participants.]

[Inaudible]—the other night. Your father looks—he's going to be around a long time, your father.

Rep. Cheney. I hope so.

The President. He's doing great.

Rep. Cheney. He is. Thank you, Mr. President.

The President. He's doing great. He's a great guy. He endorsed me out of nowhere. I said that was a great endorsement. [Laughter]

Rep. Cheney. He has good judgment, Mr. President.

The President. I was very honored. Thanks, Liz.

[The President signed H.J. Res. 57.]

The President. Okay? I'm going to give one to John back here because he's been so great, been my friend through thick and thin, right?

Sen. John A. Barrasso. Yes, sir.

The President. Even if it doesn't apply to you, I think I'm going to give you a pen. [Laughter]

[The President signed H.J. Res. 58.]

The President. So I just want to thank everybody. It's an honor. This was a lot of work for a lot of people to get this done, but it's going to lead to a lot of good jobs and a lot less regulation. And it's going to be good for many, many, many people. So thank you all very much. Thank you all very much.