Perhaps the most important piece of legislation Congress will consider this year came before a House subcommittee last week. We're referring, of course, to the repeal of the infamous 1992 law mandating that all new toilet fixtures in America use no more than a stingy 1.6 gallons per flush -- less than half the abundant 3.5 gallons that had been the American standard, as it were, until then.
Despite propaganda to the contrary from the plumbing companies -- the hidden force who joined with enviros to produce the regulation -- the new johnnies don't get the job done. In practice, 1.6 gallons per flush means 1.6 gallons times two or three. Yet the usual congressional suspects who whine about the government sticking its nose into America's bedrooms are okay with a federal hand on the flush lever.
We're not alone in our displeasure. A National Association of Homebuilders poll on the matter found that 72 percent of those surveyed were unhappy with the fixtures. "The message is clear and straightforward," says representative Joe Knollenberg, a Michigan Republican and sponsor of the repeal. "Get the federal government out of my bathroom." Or, as Ben Lieberman, a leading toilet expert at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, puts it, "A federal government that believes it has the right and the need to set design standards for toilets is a government losing sight of its limits."
Sadly, the bill didn't even make it out of the subcommittee, as two Republicans -- Heather Wilson and Michael Bilirakis -- joined 11 Democrats in voting 13-12 to preserve current law. We repeat our mantra on this issue: The Republican Congress shouldn't accept the low-flush mandate sitting down. It should wipe this inane regulation off the books. This could be the beginning of a great movement.
John Cleese, quoted in the London, Daily Telegraph, April 3, 2000