On the recordAugust 1, 2013
I thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, I've heard so much about pay being frozen that I've got to tell you: the people that I represent in the Third Congressional District of western Pennsylvania wish their pay had been frozen. It has gone down steadily since 2010. We talk about the inability to get the economy going. I feel the same way--it's embarrassing--but at the end of the day, we are not benevolent monarchs. We are stewards of the taxpayers' moneys. All we are doing is talking about accountability. Only in Washington is ``accountability'' a bad word. In the private sector, ``accountability'' reigns. The market determines my accountability. That's what holds me accountable in coming from the private sector. Why is that so foreign here to, all of a sudden, have bills--to have things in front of us--that will help us to say to people in charge to hold people responsible and to hold people accountable?
