Brad Knott

Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government has been too big, powerful, and unaccountable to the American people for far too long. This is most clear in our Federal agencies, which have spent years acting as the investigator, prosecutor, and judge simultaneously and all without any accountability. Put plainly: If a Federal agency wishes to stop a particular project or activity, it may do so at any time without regard to the cost that such actions incur on the parties who are being stopped. All leverage and power rests with the regulator, and there is no real recourse for the regulated.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I commend my friend and colleague (Mr. Raskin) from Maryland for his considerable scholarship and efforts in getting this bill to the floor. We certainly wouldn't be here without his assistance, and I am grateful for it. Mr. Speaker, as a Federal prosecutor in my previous career, I worked many years in the organized crime space. I investigated crimes like these. I spoke with the criminals. There is, as we have already discussed, a very deep need for this bill that the general public does not often see. I am not talking about shoplifters.