Political Quotes

“I thank my very good friend who has been tireless in representing not just the interests of his constituency but of this great country. Mr. Speaker, first of all, and it may seem petty, but if it were done by the other side, it would be a big deal. This bill was dropped at about 20 past 12 today and then it was brought up. Now, in less than an hour, we drop a bill and we bring it to the floor? That's not the way to do business. The caucuses are involved in other things. The whole Democratic Caucus is talking to the Vice President, and here we are about to do something of real consequence, not just for Federal employees and the Members of Congress, but for the country. First of all, as my very good friends, Mr. Lynch and Mr. Connolly, have pointed out, Federal employees have contributed now over $100 billion toward deficit reduction. They have had their pay frozen for 2 years. This will be a third year. New hires are going to have to contribute four times as much into their pension as they would have to today. So they're really being made a scapegoat. And we're doing this at a time when we're trying to compete in a global economy. Now, what happens is we send a message to Federal employees that if you can get out, get out. We don't really appreciate what you're doing for the public sector. Get into the private sector. Most of you can make two or three times what you're making in the public sector.…”