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fed emp DAN BURTON, INDIANA, CHAIRMAN BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, NEW YORK PALPAUE HENRY A. WAXMAN. CALIFORNIA CONSTANCE A, MORELLA. MARYLAND ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS RANKING MINORITY MEMBER CHRISTOPHER SHAYE, CONNECTICUT TOM LANTOS CALIFORNIA ILEANA ROB-LBHTINEN. FLORIDA ROBERT E. WISE, in. WEST VIRGINIA JOHN M. McHUGH, NEW YORK Congress of the United States MAJOR R. OWENS. NEW YORK STEPHEN HORN, CALIFORNIA EDOLPHUS TOWNS, NEW YORK JOHN L. MICA FLORIDA PAUL E. KANJORSKI PENNSYLVANIA THOMAS M. DAVIS III. VIRGINIA PATSY T. MINK, HAWAII DAVID M, MCINTOSH, INDIANA MARK E. SOUDER. INDIANA house of Representatives CAROLYN M. MALONEY NEW YORK ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON JOE SCARBOROUGH. FLORIDA DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STEVEN C. LATOURETTE OHIO CHAKA PATTAH, PENNSYLVANIA MARSHALL "MARK" BANFORD, SOUTH CAROLINA COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, MARYLAND BOB BARR, GEORGIA DENNIS J. KUCINICH, OHIO DAN MILLER, FLORIDA 2157 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING ROD R. BLACC.IEVICH ILLINOIS ASA HUTCHINSON, ARKANSAS DANNY K. DAVIS, ILLINOIS LEE TERRY. NEBRASKA JOHN F. TIERNEY, MASEACHUSETTS JUDY BIGGERT, ILLINOIS WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6143 JIM TURNER, TEXAS GREG WALDEN, OREGON THOMAS H. ALLEN, MAINE DOUG OSE, CALIFORNIA HAROLD E. FORD. JR., TENNESSEE PAUL RYAN, WISCONSIN MAJORITY (202) 225-5074 JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY ILLINOIS HELEN CHENOWETH. IDAHO MINOMITY (202) 225-5061 DAVID VITTER, LOUISIANA TTY (202) 225-8852 BERNARD SANDERS, VERMONT INDEPENDENT May 31, 2000 BY FACSIMILE The Honorable Alexis M. Herman Secretary Department of Labor 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. - Room S2018 Washington, D.C. 20210 Dear Madam Secretary: This letter continues our investigation of the Federal agencies' use of non-codified documents (such as guidance, guidelines, manuals, and handbooks) as opposed to codified regulations or legislation. Early this year, the Department of Labor (DOL) admitted that all of its Occupational Safety and Health Administration non-codified documents issued since March 1996 do not have general applicability and future effect and are not legally binding. I understand that DOL will be admitting that they also do not have any legal effect. On February 15, 2000, DOL's Solicitor testified that DOL's non-codified documents were not being used as backdoor rulemaking. Now, our investigation is turning to the Federal agencies' use of codified Congress, i.e., backdoor legislating. regulations instead of legislation for significant policy changes without a specific delegation by First, DOL's regulatory proposal to use unemployment compensation for paid family leave seems to me to be backdoor legislating. As a consequence, I object to DOL's pending final UI"). I have concerns not only about the statutory basis for this rulemaking but also about rule, entitled "Birth and Adoption Unemployment Compensation" (popularly known as "Baby DOL's compliance with certain provisions governing codified regulations, including Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), and the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). To be fair to DOL and to understand the basis for its approach, I asked to review all of its internal legal analyses relating to its decision to propose also wanted to see how DOL analyzed its legal obligations under E.O. 12866 and the regulatory change instead of initiating a legislative proposal ("DOL's 48 internal documents"). a I aforementioned laws governing rulemaking.