Kendrick Meek: “I rise to oppose any motion to delete the COLA for us as citizens and as workers in this government. First of all, I…”

“I rise to oppose any motion to delete the COLA for us as citizens and as workers in this government. First of all, I resent the self-flagellation that I am hearing against Members of Congress and this institution which we so ably represent. I think I among others work as hard as anyone in this government, harder than some, so I am not ashamed to come to this podium today to say we deserve a cost-of-living increase. I give no excuses for having to ask this Congress to do this. If we are not ashamed of the work we do, then we should not be ashamed to stand up and say, yes, we believe, we do believe, in the cost-of-living. Soap costs me as much as it does anyone else. I pay the same money for soap as the woman out there on Pennsylvania Avenue pays. I work just as hard as she does, and I say to this Congress we deserve to do this, and I just want to say to my colleagues, "You need some pride in the institution which you represent."”