Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to state my opposition to the rule for H.R. 1327. This rule does not permit a number of very important amendments which are critical to improving this bill. It does not permit the Roberts-Ganske amendment to direct the child tax credit to middle-income families; it does not permit the Porter amendment to require that our budget be balanced before tax cuts go into effect; and it does not permit an amendment I offered with several of my colleagues to remove the tax hike that this bill imposes upon Federal employees. A tax hike in a so-called tax reduction bill. Title IV of H.R. 1327 would require Federal employees to pay an additional 2.5 percent toward their retirement system. An average Government worker making $20,000 a year would have to pay an extra $500 per year, and the employee making $30,000 would have to pay an additional $750. These are hefty sums for middle-class workers. Whatever happened to our contract with the Federal work force? Title IV also would change the retirement formula to reflect the highest 5 years of salary as opposed to the present formula based on the highest 3 years. This provision would affect postal workers as well as civil service employees. Changing the retirement formula reduces the lifetime retirement benefits by 4 percent.”