Political Quotes

“I have concerns about H.R. 1327 because I believe that genuine deficit reduction rather than tax cuts should be our No. 1 priority. But I really want to point out to this body that while purporting to decrease taxes, this bill actually raises taxes on over 2 million Americans. Mr. Speaker, title IV of this bill would raise Federal employee retirement contributions by 2.5 percent. It also would change the retirement formula to reflect the highest 5 years of salary instead of the current highest 3 years of salary. This change in retirement formula would affect postal employees as well as civil service workers. Why are we once again taxing a work force that has already contributed to deficit reduction for more than a decade? The tax bill that is before us contains $91 billion more than is needed to fund the tax cuts. The $12 billion from tax increases on Federal employees is not needed. Both the Congressional Research Service [CRS] and the General Accounting Office [GAO] agree that the 'Federal retirement system's unfunded liability is not a problem that needs to be fixed.' Both CRS and GAO conclude that 'there will always be sufficient assets in the retirement fund to cover benefit payments to all current and future retirees.' The provisions in title IV of H.R. 1237 were never approved by the Government Reform and Oversight Committee.”