On the recordFebruary 15, 2013
The Republicans keep citing the Simpson- Bowles Commission in support of the bill. The Simpson-Bowles Commission was a comprehensive deficit-reduction proposal that called for shared sacrifice from all groups of Americans. I see only one group of Americans being asked to sacrifice in this bill, and that's Federal employees. The studies conducted by the Congressional Budget Office, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Heritage Foundation rely upon U.S. Census Bureau's current population survey, which consists of self- reported data from surveys of households. This data is not as reliable as the data tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is used by the President's Pay Agent to set the annual Federal pay adjustments. I now yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
