Arlington, VA – 01/25/2013 – The following statement is attributable to Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association^®  following today’s introduction of the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act by Representative Todd Young (R-IN) and 121 bipartisan co-sponsors:

 “Congress must be accountable for the regulatory policies of the federal government. All too often, Congress passes vague ill-defined laws, leaving specific implementation to unelected regulators.

“The result has been an explosion of regulations that strangle innovators with complexity and compliance costs.  The problem is only growing with agencies issuing 3,807 final rules in 2011, a 6.5 percent increase over 3,573 rules in 2010.

“When starting a business, the first hire should not have to be a lawyer.  By requiring that every major new rule be specifically approved by the House and Senate, the REINS Act is a first step in restoring sanity to our regulatory process. We urge Congress to pass it without delay.”