Congressman Wants to Repeal All Federal Regulations From the Past 20 Years

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, greets supporters Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010 in Anchorage Alaska. (AP)

Alaska’s sole congressman says he wants to eliminate every federal regulation issued since 1991 – a proposal that could touch everything from food and drug safety to banking to health care to oil drilling.

Republican Rep. Don Young told the Anchorage Downtown Rotary Club on Tuesday that he drew the line at 20 years ago “because it crossed party lines and also we were prosperous at that time,” The Anchorage Daily News reported. “And no new regulations until they can justify them.”

Young’s spokesman, Luke Miller, told FoxNews.com Young is still developing the legislation.

“The main thing is if an agency can’t justify a regulation, it shouldn’t be on the board,” he said. “The overall idea behind the legislation is to make sure an agency justifies these regulations.”

Since Republicans took control of the House this year, they have put a spotlight on what they view as excessive regulations that are harming profits and killing jobs. Democrats counter that regulations are necessary to protect the public from greed, irresponsibility and recklessness.

Young said at the luncheon that he knew it was unlikely that he could get his legislation past the Democratic-controlled Senate or the veto pen of President Obama.

Young said he believes there’s a role for financial regulation as long as the government doesn’t overreach.

“When we deregulated the financial institutions, which we did I believe probably 10 years ago, we created some problems. There’s no doubt about that,” he said in response to question about whether there should be any regulation of Wall Street, the newspaper reported.

“I’m more interested in regulations that do not have any founding,” he said.

In an email, Miller said Young believes it's wrong that the “thousands of rules that Congress never intended and has not approved” are costing American taxpayers more than $1.75 trillion per year -- a figure based on a 2008 study by the Small Business Administration.

“While there are certainly regulations that are essential for public health and safety, the amount of regulations coming from the federal government and the extent to how they affect everyday life in America is outrageous,” Miller said.