Bill Clinton: “Well, let me say two things. Number one, I think Congress has made a commendable beginning in cutting back its staff…”

“Well, let me say two things. Number one, I think Congress has made a commendable beginning in cutting back its staff expenses, too. They've, I think, adopted a 12 percent cut, absolute cut target over the next couple of years, not quite as much as the administration has but not insignificant. And they deserve credit for that. Secondly, there's been a lot of pressure, because of the publicity that's been brought to bear on Congress, to scale down on some of the committee and subcommittee work for select committees that were recently abolished by the Congress. And let me just say this: There are a lot of Members of Congress who believe that they're on too many committees or subcommittees. There are a lot of them who don't feel they can do their best work. I don't think it is for the executive branch to tell the legislative branch how it should reorganize itself. We have a separation of powers clause in the Constitution which I think has a good purpose. I think the best thing you could do, since you need to know--there are a lot of people in the Congress who are honestly asking these questions--the best thing you can do is to give the issues that you care about, all of you, in terms of congressional organization, a high level of visibility and make your suggestions about what should be done and go at them directly, because they are not reform averse. Now, I can tell you that the freshman legislators are certainly not. But believe me, I've got plenty to do reorganizing the executive branch, and there's more money there. And I think it would be inappropriate for me to tell them how to do it. I think it's better for you to tell them how to do it. Stimulus Package”