Porter Goss: “Mr. Speaker, I am in support of this rule for the fiscal year 1997 legislative branch appropriations bill. This is the…”

“Mr. Speaker, I am in support of this rule for the fiscal year 1997 legislative branch appropriations bill. This is the first appropriations bill this year that has not been given an open rule--and in all likelihood it will be the only structured rule we see for a spending bill this year. Yet this is a fair rule making in order a mix of eight amendments from both sides of the aisle. In fact, most of the amendments that the Rules Committee did not make in order would not have been allowed under an open rule process. For instance, I strongly support reforms in the area of Congressional pensions, and I am a cosponsor of legislation to cap the accrual of pension benefits at 12 years. I think this would demonstrate in good faith to the American taxpayer that personal financial gain is not an incentive to run for office. However, there is simply no funding in this to address this issue through an amendment to this bill. I look forward to making progress in this area through the appropriate authorizing committees in the future.”