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June 15, 2011
On January 18th of this year, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563 calling on every federal agency to review their regulations to ensure they "promote predictability and reduce uncertainty," "take into account benefits and costs," and "identify and use the best, most innovative, and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends."

However, independent agencies are not subjected to the executive order, and to date, only one has voluntarily implemented the requirement.

June 15, 2011
by Jonathan Allen

Blue Dog Democrats sent a letter to a dozen federal agencies asking them to undertake reviews of their regulations and procedures to find inefficiencies, even though they were left out of the administration's mandate that other departments do the same.

June 15, 2011
By Vicki Needham

Several members of the Blue Dog Coalition are pressing 12 independent federal agencies to conduct reviews of their regulations that they could save upward of $1 billion and help create jobs.

The fiscally conservative group of Democrats sent out letters on Wednesday asking that the agencies to voluntarily agree to review and identify and change burdensome regulations that could hamper job creation efforts, according to a letter obtained by The Hill.

"We believe that overly burdensome and outdated regulations slow economic growth," the letter said.

June 13, 2011
Today, following the President's meeting with leaders of his Jobs and Competitiveness Council, the Blue Dogs once again urged consideration of the AMERICA Works Act, legislation introduced by Indiana Congressman Joe Donnelly and included in the bipartisan House "Make it in America" agenda. The bill, which has also been endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers, would take significant steps to better match career training with real-world hiring needs, a stated objective of General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and American Express CEO Ken Chenault, who are leading the Council's efforts.

June 7, 2011
Today, Representative Mike Ross (D-AR), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications, issued the following statement on U.S. Representative Dan Boren's announcement that he would not be seeking re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

June 1, 2011
Today members of the Blue Dog Coalition, under the leadership of Congressman Ben Chandler (KY-06) and Congressman Tim Holden (PA-17), sent a letter to Dr. Donald Berwick, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), advocating that the agency eliminate unnecessary paperwork that is overly burdensome to home health care providers and consumers. Following is the text of the letter.

Dear Administrator Berwick,

May 18, 2011
Today Congressman Ben Chandler (KY-06) and Congressman Tim Holden (PA-17), Chair and Vice-Chair of the Blue Dog Task Force on Oversight and Regulatory Review, issued the following statements in response to the announcement by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on the "Know Before You Owe" initiative, an effort to simplify the mortgage disclosure forms and seek input from consumers and community banks. The Blue Dogs recently sent a letter urging Dr.

May 10, 2011
Today members of the Blue Dog Coalition, under the leadership of Congressman Ben Chandler (KY-06) and Congressman Tim Holden (PA-17), sent a letter to Dr. Elizabeth Warren, Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, addressing overly burdensome financial regulations that slow job growth and fail to improve consumer protections. Following is the text of the letter.

Dear Dr. Warren:

May 4, 2011
Today, under the leadership of Congressman Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Congressman Dan Boren of Oklahoma, the Blue Dog Coalition announced its official endorsement of H.R. 1325, The AMERICA Works Act, legislation that ensures workers have the skills America's manufacturers need to compete. As Chair and Vice-Chair of the Blue Dog Task Force on Economic Growth, Donnelly and Boren are leading the Coalition's efforts to promote common sense, middle-of-the-road policies that promote job growth and economic recovery.

May 3, 2011
Today, members of the Blue Dog Coalition announced their endorsement of H.R. 1380, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act of 2011. The legislation, which has broad bipartisan support, would pave the way for consumers to change how they power their vehicles by encouraging private investment in natural gas refueling stations and by providing incentives for the production and purchase of natural gas vehicles.