Bill Pascrell: “We need a balanced approach to reducing our deficit which makes responsible cuts while also raising revenue. This bill…”

“We need a balanced approach to reducing our deficit which makes responsible cuts while also raising revenue. This bill is not the way to do it. I have great respect for the gentleman's intellect, but this is one of the dumbest bills I've ever seen come to this floor. Let's take a look at it, Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to this rule and the underlying bill. As part of the fiscal cliff deal, we promised Federal employees that they would see their first pay raise in over 2 years on March 27. This is a modest pay adjustment, half a percent. When you say $10 billion, you're talking about $1 billion a year. Now, a little more than a month before the increase takes effect, the bill before us today would break that promise. Do you think, America, that this is going to solve the fiscal problems that the Congress and President created? My home State of New Jersey suffered devastating damage from Sandy this past fall, as did a few other States. Employees from FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, HUD, and many other agencies were on the ground immediately. How dare you ask this pejorative question about, well, what if we took the dollar from the clerk and then provided it to our Armed Forces? What kind of negotiation is that? What kind of bartering are we doing? And we're doing the same thing with our own staffs, the very people that are sitting alongside us and behind us, which is not germane to this legislation, but we're doing the same thing.…”