Political Quotes

“I thank Congressman Steil and Congressman Morelle for leading the charge on this. Like many things, the public does not know the dollars that are going to politicians who corrupt the system, game the system, and then get paid for it, as Congressman Steil and Congressman Morelle mentioned. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Senate companion to my legislation, the No CORRUPTION Act. This legislation gives us an opportunity to rectify the abuse of taxpayer dollars. Under current law, Members of Congress who have been convicted of various crimes related to public corruption remain eligible to receive a taxpayer-funded pension until all avenues have been exhausted. This can take years, and it has taken years. Even if the appeal is unsuccessful, there is no clawback on the funds that have been wrongly paid. It is in the hands of the politician who violated their oath when they came to Congress. The No CORRUPTION Act fixes that loophole by immediately stripping a Member's pension upon initial conviction rather than final conviction. If an appeal was successful, the money halted by this legislation would be paid back fully so the Member is not out the money. With this simple reform, taxpayer money is not given to criminals, and the interest of taxpayers is balanced with the rights of the accused. Americans would be outraged if they knew about the various perks that former Members of Congress, many who have been in the news recently, receive.…”