Andrew Clyde: “I thank my colleague from California, the chairman of our subcommittee, for yielding time. I rise today to speak in…”

“I thank my colleague from California, the chairman of our subcommittee, for yielding time. I rise today to speak in opposition to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, and I think we can all agree that everything that this body does must be measured against the Constitution, as it is the supreme law of the land. All of us raised our hand and swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and this legislation has constitutional problems. In 1989, Congress passed the Ethics Reform Act, which granted Members an annual cost-of-living adjustment, known as a COLA, meant to adjust for inflation so that the value of congressional compensation would remain the same. {time} 0930 This COLA was meant to be capped at the annual percentage that every other Federal employee would receive. In exchange for the annual COLA, all Members of Congress were prohibited or severely limited from earning additional outside income, like speaking fees or other fees that could be easily translated into pay-for-play arrangements resulting in potentially tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars of additional income, especially for more popular or more powerful Members. I certainly agree with the prohibition of this type for outside income for Members of Congress, yet I disagree with the manner in which the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act addresses eliminating the lawfully required COLA.…”