Chellie Pingree: “I thank the chairman for yielding. I just say that, again, this idea of asking public servants to be volunteers, to…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding. I just say that, again, this idea of asking public servants to be volunteers, to serve for $1, actually carries no weight until all of the Members of Congress are also willing to serve for $1. It is completely impractical, and it would mean that only a few people would have the opportunity to serve as Members of Congress or to be in the executive branch. Also, to criticize Deb Haaland, a woman who I was very proud to serve with in the House of Representatives, who we were very pleased to have her here as one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, but then to go on to lead the Department of the Interior as a Native American woman who also has oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, who has had so much personal experience but also experience within her own community, who has a deep love of our public lands, of our natural systems, and in my opinion, has done a fantastic job, this is insulting. It is petty. We shouldn't even be here standing at this hour of the night talking about such a highly regarded and well-respected public servant. Mr. Chair, I thoroughly oppose this amendment.”