WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Dale Hutchins (R-OH), 61, held a formal press conference Tuesday to announce the introduction of landmark legislation requiring federal agencies to publish plain-language summaries of major regulations, calling it “a once-in-a-generation reform” before seventeen cameras and a balloon arch his staff had rented in advance.

The bill, which Hutchins described as “the product of four years of listening to real Americans,” was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2003, under the Plain Writing Act’s predecessor statute. Congressional Research Service staff identified the duplication within approximately eleven minutes of receiving the bill text. Hutchins’ office was notified at 2:47 p.m. The balloon arch was not deflated until 4:15.

“This is the kind of bold action Washington refuses to take,” Hutchins told reporters. “Nobody up here has the courage to do something like this. That’s why I did it.”

“We are incredibly proud of this legislation. We believe it will pass. We are also looking into whether it needs to pass.”

Hutchins’ communications director, Steph Calloway, 29, confirmed the office is “reviewing the timeline” and noted that the Congressman’s prior four terms in office did not overlap with the original bill’s passage, which she described as “a context issue, not an awareness issue.” Hutchins has served since 2007.

The legislation currently has eleven co-sponsors, none of whom have been informed it is already law.

At press time, Hutchins had introduced a companion bill to study whether the original bill was working, unaware that three such studies had already been federally commissioned, completed, and published between 2009 and 2014.