Jeff Miller: “as we talk about reforming Congress, we need to reflect back on all the reforms we have already conducted this year.…”

“as we talk about reforming Congress, we need to reflect back on all the reforms we have already conducted this year. When we first took office in January 1995, we passed the Congressional Accountability Act. We applied 11 laws of the land on Congress, from OSHA, to the Wage and Hour, to the Civil Rights Act. After that we went about cutting the costs of Congress, really reforming the way we do business. We cut over 10 percent of the budget of Congress, real costs in our spending. We privatized functions. We got rid of 25 committees, we cut committee staff by one-third. After we did that we changed the procedures of running Congress. We opened up Congress so we are not a closed institution. We got rid of proxy voting. Then we passed a gift ban, basically a total ban on gifts in Congress. And now we have passed lobby reform. This is the most reform-minded Congress that we have had in generations, and I am proud to be part of all the reforms taking place in this Congress.”