Deborah Koff Ross: “I thank you for your efforts and leadership on this particular issue. Mr. Speaker, at a time when our country is more…”

“I thank you for your efforts and leadership on this particular issue. Mr. Speaker, at a time when our country is more than $16 trillion in debt, I rise today in support of H.R. 273 and in support of my colleague from Florida's efforts to hold the Federal Government more accountable to taxpayers. As a former chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, I held hearings about the discrepancies in compensation and benefits between Federal employees and private sector employees. And it's interesting to see what we found out. For example, the Congressional Budget Office found that the total compensation for Federal employees was 16 percent greater than that for the private sector employees. The CBO has also reported that Federal employee benefits were 48 percent more costly than the private sector employees' benefits. As a former small business owner, I'm shocked to learn how serious these discrepancies truly are. In the private sector, I've had the responsibility to make a payroll, balance my budget, and reduce spending during difficult economic times. At a time when our children and our grandchildren are funding the Federal Government with a credit card, Members of Congress have a responsibility to make the tough choices and reduce spending. That is why, during my time as chairman, I oversaw 2 years of Federal pay freezes. However, these Federal pay freezes were not my idea. In fact, it was a bipartisan idea.…”