Good Morning and welcome to today’s hearing on reassessing the Fastener Quality Act entitled "Fastener Quality Act: Needed or Outdated

Statement of Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman

Constance Morella

Technology Subcommittee Hearing

"Fastener Quality Act: Needed or Outdated?"

October 8, 1998

Good Morning and welcome to today’s hearing on reassessing the 1990 Fastener Quality Act entitled "Fastener Quality Act: Needed or Outdated?"

Today’s hearing is the first in a series the Technology Subcommittee will hold on the Fastener Quality Act. It will be followed up with additional hearings at the start of the 106^th Congress in advance of passage of legislation to rewrite the Fastener Quality Act.

On May 13, 1998, the Committee on Science passed H.R. 3824, the Fastener Quality Act Amendments of 1998 (P.L. 105-234). H.R. 3824 amended the Fastener Quality Act to exempt aviation fasteners which are already regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). During Committee consideration of the bill, I proposed an amendment that was accepted to delay the implementation of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Fastener Quality Act rule until June 1, 1999 or 120 days after the Secretary of Commerce issues a report on changes needed to the law, whichever is later. This reprieve is intended to allow Congress an opportunity to amend the Fastener Quality Act before the current NIST regulations go into effect.

This hearing begins that effort. It is my firm belief that, as currently constituted, the Fastener Quality Act is fundamentally flawed and needs significant changes. I am hopeful that working with all impacted parties from fastener makers, to auto and aviation manufacturers who use fasteners, to federal agencies and other fastener consumers, we can come up with a rewrite of the 1990 Act that not only protects public safety, but also does not create the kind of unnecessary bureaucratic red tape associated with the present statute.

H.R. 3824 put-off implementation of the Act for nine months. We must use this time wisely. It is my intention to fix the Fastener Quality Act once and for all. I am not interested in incremental changes to the Act, but rather, I believe we must review which parts of the law are still actually needed and do away with the rest.

While we conduct our review of the Act, my amendment to H.R. 3824 requires the Secretary of Commerce to initiate his own study of needed changes to the Act. The Secretary’s report is due to Congress in February 1999. The amendment specifically designated the Secretary as the author of the report to ensure that it receives the attention it requires. I understand that Ms. Ellen Bloom, the Secretary’s Deputy Chief of Staff, has been named by the Secretary to lead the Commerce Department’s review, and that Dr. James Hill, Chief of NIST’s Build Environment Division, will be responsible for writing the report. I look forward to hearing from Mr. Ray Kammer, the Director of NIST, about the Secretary’s plans for the study, and receiving assurances from him that the Department of Commerce and the Secretary himself will give the Fastener Quality Act review the attention it requires.

In addition, I look forward to hearing from our panelists on three basic questions: 1. What impacts would implementation of NIST’s current fastener quality rule have on consumers and manufacturers? 2. Have fastener failures been a significant problem since passage of the Fastener Quality Act in 1990? 3. What, if any, regulations are needed to ensure that substandard fasteners do not become a problem in the future?

I am hopeful that our distinguished panel can answer these questions and begin to lay the groundwork for reformulating the Fastener Quality Act.

Finally, I am particularly pleased that two distinguished Members with long histories of working to improve the Fastener Quality Act have joined us this morning. Welcome to Congressman Denny Hastert (IL-14) , the Chief Deputy Majority Whip, and Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs and Criminal Justice, and Congressman Donald Manzullo (IL-16), the Chairman of the House Small Business Subcommittee on Tax, Finance, and Exports.