On the recordMay 1, 2014
My amendment is simple. It would end the practice of Members leasing vehicles on the taxpayers' dime. I am just not convinced that this is a necessary use of taxpayer money, and neither are the constituents that I represent. We are asking agencies throughout the Federal Government to use their funding carefully and to cut out unnecessary, nice-to-have things. We ought to apply the same standard to ourselves, and in many ways we have done an excellent job of doing that. Funding for the House of Representatives has been cut since the Republicans took the majority by over 14 percent. We have cut our own MRAs and committee funds. We have frozen our own pay. Unfortunately, the vehicle lease program isn't consistent in that effort. That is not to say that some Members who lease vehicles aren't doing it responsibly. They are, and they have good reason. Unfortunately, I think the line of what is appropriate in terms of leasing vehicles has been blurred by others. Members of Congress driving around the Capitol in luxury vehicles financed by the taxpayers that they represent isn't exactly the image we want to portray to the American people, especially when many Americans are struggling just to get by. The vehicle lease program in its current form is simply out of touch with the economic reality of what our American brothers and sisters face.…
