Christopher Shays: “I have been in this chamber 11 years and I have seen days that are very satisfying and days that are not. I, obviously…”

“I have been in this chamber 11 years and I have seen days that are very satisfying and days that are not. I, obviously, am very proud to be a Republican Member of this Congress and am proud that in 1994 that Republicans had an opportunity to lead this Congress, to help get our country's financial house in order, to save our trust funds, and to move from a caretaking society to a caring society, where people have their hopes and dreams more likely to occur. I was also proud to be part of a 1994 Congress that took office in 1995 that was able to move forward with congressional accountability, getting Congress under all the laws that we had exempted ourselves from. Congress had exempted itself from the civil rights law, it had exempted itself from fair pay, the 40-hour workweek, time and a half. The private sector had to do it, Congress did not. Congress had exempted itself from OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which basically meant that the Congress did not have to abide by safety procedures for its employees. A Member of Congress could not be sued by an employee for sexual harassment. We exempted ourselves from things that the private sector came under. We did until the 104th Congress, the last Congress, in which we passed congressional accountability. But we did not stop there. And we did it, candidly, on a bipartisan basis, which is the best way to get reform through. We did not just try to ram it through.”